Lexus USA Promises "14 (now 17) New Products" in 2018

[Joaquin Ruhi]

A rambling article on Toyota and Lexus' future written in the aftermath of the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show by Automotive News' Laurence Iliff contains this eye-opening passage:

"In 2018, we'll have 14 new products to talk about," (Lexus USA general manager Jeff) Bracken said. "Whether it's a concept or a next-generation [model] or a vehicle that we've never revealed before, special editions, anniversary editions. There will be 14 vehicles that we have never spoken about or are hitting the market."

Bracken held back on whether one of them would be a production version of the UX crossover concept.

..."As quickly as we can try and bring a vehicle like the UX to market, that would be our desire."

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...urgency?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Tempting as it is to try to guess at what those 14 new products are, this is a particularly tricky endeavor. Is Bracken talking model year 2018 or calendar year 2018? Do the already-revealed and announced (but not yet on sale) RX 350L, RX 450hL, LS 500, LS 500h and LC Inspiration Series count towards the 14? Of note is that the Lexus Enthusiast article announcing the latter ( https://lexusenthusiast.com/2017/10...-limited-edition-lc-inspiration-series-coupe/ ) states that

Scheduled to arrive in February 2018 to coincide with the release of the Black Panther movie, the LC will be the first in a succession of Inspiration Series limited-edition vehicles for each of the Lexus flagship models.

Educated guesses as to what we'll see during 2018 would include Inspiration Series editions of LS and LX; LS F and LC F; UX (in UX 200, UX 250 and UX 250h guises, per registered trademarks); 7ES (with 2 or 3 powertrain options) and Lord-knows-what concept(s).

 

[CIF]

As always, these statements are misleading, and not much to get excited about. For all we know, half or more of these new products could be, as mentioned, simply some new trims or editions of existing products and concept vehicles. Other new vehicles could simply be refreshes. Out of that entire list in terms of all-new products or full redesigns, as you mentioned Joaquin Ruhi I would only expect the 7ES, UX, and possibly LC F or LS F as the only significant products. Anything else significant would be a nice surprise, but I'm not counting on it.

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

As always, these statements are misleading, and not much to get excited about. For all we know, half or more of these new products could be, as mentioned, simply some new trims or editions of existing products and concept vehicles. Other new vehicles could simply be refreshes. Out of that entire list in terms of all-new products or full redesigns, as you mentioned Joaquin Ruhi I would only expect the 7ES, UX, and possibly LC F or LS F as the only significant products. Anything else significant would be a nice surprise, but I'm not counting on it.

We're in full agreement and on the same page on this. I know there's probably an element of hyperbole in Mr. Bracken's proclamation (and, by extension, even in the title I gave this thread). Depending on how you count them and what timetable Jeff Bracken had in mind, the possibilities I mentioned in my post above are at or beyond 14, even with just a single new Lexus concept for the 2018 calendar year.

Although Jeff Bracken didn't mention mid-life refreshes as possibilities in his statement, we may see those during 2018 for RC, RC F, RX, GX and LX.

Nonetheless, this proclamation is news and discussion-worthy.

 

[Tragic Bronson]

While I know Lexus says they aren't concerned about being #1, all the brands are always shooting to beat each other, and currently Mercedes has had the goods so far to go ahead of BMW and Lexus. Besides the SUV trend, where even the "outdated" GX is doing well, I just don't think cars like the IS and GS have stayed at the pace of Ze Germans...I've read a lot about it from different POVs and outside TLE just because this forum tilts towards things "Lexus", but outside points are always good to consider and hear out:

http://www.autospies.com/news/Mercedes-Just-Days-Away-From-Shutting-Out-BMW-In-US-Sales-Race-94958/

Benz has honestly just nailed the strategy from the top down. Who knew AMG would become one of the most respected and lusted after names in the Auto world.

Benz further differentiates itself by having a top, down approach starting with the S Class and filling out the rest of the lineup. The masses have spoken and they'd rather have smaller S Classes than Larger A4/3series

Lastly branding, "The Best Or Nothing" hits home and has truly become the firms approach with many of their products. Some of their strategic partnerships are interesting too like inspiring the first class cabin design for Emirates

Lastly taking risk...from the inside out you'd be hard pressed to find one thing untouched between each generation and the public apparently appreciates those risk and are passing Rival's dealers on the way to see the latest Risk Benz has taken

Mercedes knows its customers and knows its brand. That's the bottom line.

Mercedes is a luxury car first, and a sporty-car brand second. Each model in their lineup represents both, effectively, especially now that the E400 sedan is being offered. Mercedes has created luxurious interiors with softer, more luxury-oriented base models, adding sportier AMG versions, with the appropriate interior accents.

This approach has been lost on Lexus and BMW. Lexus is trying to create this sportier image when their core buyers want luxury. BMW is trying to nurture a more luxury-oriented persona when their core buyers want sport.

On top of that, buyers want their current cars to be distinct from the old models and Mercedes is evolving their designs to do just that (albeit amidst criticism of the one-design-for-all-sizes approach for their sedans).

Audi, on the other hand, seems to fit somewhere in the middle. Though their sales are strong (for them) and they seem to be build great products, their approach is probably too middle ground, uncommitted.

There's been plenty of discussion of how Lexus' styling direction in the past few years dramatically changed, some love it, some not so much. When IS and GS sales have dropped, I wonder if Lexus is going through its data to see if some buyers were really too put off that they went to Ze Germans instead. I know that Lexus loves to push reliability a lot and it shows in the JDP reports and what not, but the majority of its sales are lease, just like the competitors.

Most of these buyers aren't concerned about the car 5 years down the line when they only lease them 3-4 years on the average.

 

[bogglo]

Well I think we just discovered one of the concept he was hinting at. The LF-1 to debut at Detroit.

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

Well I think we just discovered one of the concept he was hinting at. The LF-1 to debut at Detroit.

Yup!

 

[mikeavelli]

At least we won't be completely shafted on special editions

 

[krew]

Lexus USA Promises "14 New Products" in 2018

Let's take our best guess.

View the original article post

 

[Hemi]

Concept LF-1 limitless will have to do something with the LX. It has been on the market for almost 13 years with 3 refreshes overall. This fact supports the information that LF-1 will show new lvl of luxury and LX is a luxury vechichle as well.

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

Krew, you don't think LS F and LC F will be unveiled during 2018?

Also, for what it's worth, although I agree with your logic in not counting powertrain variations and options of any given model separately, in the past Toyota and Lexus have been known to do just that whenever they've issued one of those sweeping teaser "we're revealing X number of new or updated models during X year" proclamations. At a minimum, they've counted hybrid and non-hybrid versions of a given model as two. By that criteria, UX and UXh would count as two, as would ES and ESh.

 

[meth.ix]

I'm positive there will be an LC F model revealed next year. I don't know if that counts as a new model in 2018 though.

 

[johnyb]

Oh ! Come on , you forget the most wanted , the new generation GS 450h with the new multi stage synergy drive on it !

 

[mikeavelli]

I wonder does like a LS and LS F-Sport count for two models?

 

[GSCT]

Oh ! Come on , you forget the most wanted , the new generation GS 450h with the new multi stage synergy drive on it !

If only!

 

[Ian Schmidt]

This approach has been lost on Lexus and BMW. Lexus is trying to create this sportier image when their core buyers want luxury. BMW is trying to nurture a more luxury-oriented persona when their core buyers want sport.

I think that's somewhat disingenuous though. It's basically flat-out claiming that only Mercedes can pull off a luxury/sport mix, and I'm not ready to count out either Lexus or BMW on that count. I've seen no complaints about the amount of luxury on the LC500, and the mantra for the car seems to be "a luxury GT, not a track car". Similarly, the LS500 is, at least in terms of luxury features, the most lux LS ever by a decent margin. It may not have the pillow-soft ride of the 3LS, but if you get an Executive package with the cut glass and massage in all 4 seats I don't think you can reasonably claim Lexus has forsaken luxury for sportiness. Now toss possible/likely F versions of both cars into the mix and you're starting to look a lot like what MB does.

 

[maiaramdan]

We can say in short he want to say that Lexus will start to fix it's problems from 2018

 

[abraxas]

Lexus USA Promises "14 New Products" in 2018

View the original article post

Special edition? They've now added rotating razor blades to the Predator grill?

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

It seems that Lexus will be unveiling even more new product this year than originally expected. As noted by Krew in his 2017 calendar year sales report thread ( https://lexusenthusiast.com/2018/01/03/lexus-december-2017-and-year-end-sales-report/ ):

In the year-end press release, Lexus USA general manager Jeff Bracken committed to “15 all-new and special edition models to the market” — Bracken originally told Automotive News there would be 14 introductions this year, so now we can expect an additional model some time over the next twelve months.

Besides the additional all-new and special edition model, a Toyota USA Newsroom press release http://toyotanews.pressroom.toyota.com/releases/december+2017+year+end+sales+conference+notes.htm
concludes with this passage:

...Lexus owners and luxury shoppers will be anxious to learn about the 15 all-new, special edition and concept vehicles we plan to reveal throughout 2018.

And in Detroit, the first of those 15 reveals begin with the Lexus LF-1 Limitless concept, a flagship crossover you won’t want to miss...

So, taken literally, the 15 new reveals are for calendar year 2018 (as opposed to model year), and thus do not include 5LS, 5LSh, LC Inspiration Series, RX L, RX Lh and 2-row LX but would include 2019 model year vehicles unveiled during the 2018 calendar year. And, again, a reminder that Lexus and Toyota tend to count hybrid and non-hybrid versions of their model lines separately for these exercises. Thus, 7ES and 7ESh count as two, as do UX and UXh.

 

[bogglo]

I hope some news about the GS pops up this year. But that's a lot of cars though.
LF-1
ES
UX
that's still 12 more to go or maybe 10 to go if hybrids are counted separately.

 

[ssun30]

ES/ESh and UX/UXh will probably be the only production vehicles we will be able to buy. If there's anything else I would bet on a LWB LS because it's obviously missing for China and Middle East. It's a good opportunity to expand the L-line in the rest of the world as well.

Besides a pair of F-car concepts, I think Lexus will use this year to debut more BEV/FCV concepts. 2018 should be the year they make significant progress towards mass production of solid state batteries, so it's reasonable to think they start showing some early concepts just to get on board the EV hype train. An 'ES-FC' or a 'RX-FC' concept could easily be a possibility.

Also, anyone thinking about a LC convertible? The L-vehicles are doing strong and should make up more and more percentage of sales; it's insane to not have a convertible version of the world's most-loved GT.