Report: Lexus Ends LC Production This Year

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A letter to dealers shares that LC production will end in August 2026


The LC had a nine year run and more than 15,000 units sold


Retiring the LC 500 also ends production of Lexus’ 5.0L 2UR-GSE V8 engine



Even though it was expected, this is still a tough moment: Lexus appears ready to end LC production later this year and send its flagship coupe off into history. In a letter sent to dealers and shared with Lexus Enthusiast, dealerships were notified that LC 500 production will cease in August.
With a nine year production run and more than 15,000 units sold across LC 500, LC 500h, coupe, convertible, and Inspiration Series cars, the LC will go down in history as one of Lexus’ most iconic models. The 2012 LF-LC concept car stunned the world and sent buyers and media into a frenzy...
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Gor134

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Been on sale for almost a decade without a thorough refresh, expected this!
 
Kelvin2020

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Akio, you are a cancer within the brand. You have driven a once vibrant brand toward destruction. He turned a brand that had finally broken free from its old labels back into something boring again. You have disappointed the people who supported this brand again and again.

Take a hard look at yourself. Why push Lexus to a dead end? When Lexus is no longer worth buying, don’t blame anyone else. The only person responsible is you.

You are the one who buried Lexus with your own hands. F*CK YOU, AKIO TOYODA.
 
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Kelvin2020 said:
Akio, you are a cancer within the brand. You have driven a once vibrant brand toward destruction. He turned a brand that had finally broken free from its old labels back into something boring again. You have disappointed the people who supported this brand again and again.

Take a hard look at yourself. Why push Lexus to a dead end? When Lexus is no longer worth buying, don’t blame anyone else. The only person responsible is you.

You are the one who buried Lexus with your own hands. F*CK YOU, AKIO TOYODA.
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You know I always thought this scene of Palpatine from Revenge of the Sith was just a joke. Unfortunately, it wasn't. This is legitimately how Akio and many others in his position think.


Promise you at some point in his life, Akio looked in the mirror and said "I AM Toyota."
 
boltzer

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LCLFV said:
Promise you at some point in his life, Akio looked in the mirror and said "I AM Toyota."
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Reminds me of this article from ‘09: https://www.kevinmeyer.com/harvard-toyota-and-the-rest-of-the-story/
But the story gets better. [Toyoda] quits Booz Allen and goes back to Japan to ask his father, Shoichiro Toyoda who was President of Toyota at the time, and is the son of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda, for a job.

His father tells him that no one at Toyota wants him because he has no useful skills and his last name would make him a burden. The only way into Toyota was the entry level management training program with all the rest of the new hires. So in he goes and 25 years later he makes it to the top.
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I don’t know the extent to which meritocracy out-punches nepotism in a large, Japanese company like Toyota. But having seen the GR GT press tour so far where some of Akio Toyoda’s words came off a little…vindictive…none of this surprises me.
 
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boltzer said:
Reminds me of this article from ‘09: https://www.kevinmeyer.com/harvard-toyota-and-the-rest-of-the-story/

I don’t know the extent to which meritocracy out-punches nepotism in a large, Japanese company like Toyota. But having seen the GR GT press tour so far where some of Akio Toyoda’s words came off a little…vindictive…none of this surprises me.
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I don't think there's much nepotism in his case. The company was genuinely in a bad shape around the 2008 global financial crisis and the family had limited say in corporate matters. The first decade of his leadership solved some of the biggest longstanding issues within TMC (best example is consolidating the domestic dealership network).
Ian Schmidt said:
I wasn't familiar with Akio's background before, but given law degree + MBA everything makes more sense now. At one point we thought he was saving TMC from the bean counters, but he's actually the end boss of bean counting.
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Around 2022 there are a series of "hit pieces" in Japanese media criticizing his corporate governance, such as increasing reliance on contract workers instead of full time employees, and switching from long time supplier Nippon Steel for cheaper Korean and Chinese steel. Now we see the hypocrisy when he said he wants to preserve Japanese automotive jobs.

TMC today is still stronger than ever because the global car industry as a whole is suffering from major corporate governance problems, whether it's legacy brands or "new waves". VAG never recovered from Dieselgate and likely never match TMC again. The American Big Three are a mess like they've always been. Nissan is struggling to stay above water and Honda is having its own decade of stagnation. Chinese brands are on the rise but they are engaged in extremely cut throat competition that will leave very few winners at the end. The Koreans seem to be the only ones making sane decisions but they are lacking in marketing and branding. It's hard to not make mistakes when the past decade has seen more changes in trends than ever.
 
Ian Schmidt

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ssun30 said:
TMC today is still stronger than ever because the global car industry as a whole is suffering from major corporate governance problems, whether it's legacy brands or "new waves".
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For sure, but there's certainly reason for concern about TMC's future too. There have been multiple attempted fixes for the V35A that haven't actually fixed it. As far as I know that's unprecedented for Toyota. Plus of course Lexus going from a respected brand with a well-understood story to a Toyota trim level, and whatever's going on with Crown and GR.
 
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LCLFV

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I like how Stellantis isn't even in the conversation because they're about to meet the same fate as British Leyland.
 
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Really a big shame the 2UR-GSE is gone after this year. It's surprising how many legacy engines with similar age as the 2UR are still relevant and compliant in the near future.

The Mercedes M279 came out in 2012 but it's really just an evolution of the M275 that first appeared in 2002 (the differences between the two are fewer than the differences between gen 1 2UR-GSE and gen 2). The base architecture is 24 years old now. The only modern Toyota engine as old is the 1GR-FE. It's a SOHC 3-valve design with port-only injection, basically late 90s tech. But Mercedes is keeping it alive for Euro 7 while still having competitive performance (630PS and 1000N.m, numbers Lexus can only dream of). The refreshed W223 comes with it on Day 1 in the armored limo version.

The BMW N74 is also 17 years old now and is based on the N54, the engine you find on the E90 3 series. No more BMW uses it but it's still available in Rolls Royce. It "only" makes 570PS and 850N.m but you don't need more in a Rolls Royce. It's trivial for BMW to make a 700PS+ version if they want to.

Toyota can literally revive the 1GZ-FE, turbocharge it, and it won't be behind the M279/N74 in technology level by much. That's how old these V12s are.

And the closest equivalent to 2UR-GSE, the Ford Coyote is still being improved and supported for the foreseeable future. And Toyota/Lexus has always built a more refined, better calibrated engine than the Coyote (ignore what Mustang fanboys say).

"Emissions regulations" are not a valid excuse for discontinuing tried-and-true engines any more. These engines still persist because they have been figured out. The knowledge of every detail is preserved in the company, so whenever a new challenge arises engineers know how to tackle it. This was how classic Toyota engines were kept relevant for decades before.
 
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CRSKTN

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LCLFV said:
How would you expect people to react when every single enthusiast-oriented vehicle from Lexus is cancelled on a site called "Lexus Enthusiast"?
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Exactly. Literally none of the vehicles in the "exciting" videos on instagram are ones you can even buy any more.

They're overlaying V10 LFA sounds on top of an EV.
It's not how you behave if you respect your customers as intelligent or discerning.
Unfortunately they can just finance and lease cars to people who don't care.
 
LexDDas

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CRSKTN said:
Exactly. Literally none of the vehicles in the "exciting" videos on instagram are ones you can even buy any more.

They're overlaying V10 LFA sounds on top of an EV.
It's not how you behave if you respect your customers as intelligent or discerning.
Unfortunately they can just finance and lease cars to people who don't care.
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Like that Lexus Circuit Experience video they posted on the Discover Lexus IG. All the vehicles in it were the LC, RCF/RC, IS500, and GSF. Then they want to say "Experience Amazing" at the end? GTFO. Experience amazing in 2020, sure. Not anymore.
 
Kelvin2020

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LexDDas said:
Like that Lexus Circuit Experience video they posted on the Discover Lexus IG. All the vehicles in it were the LC, RCF/RC, IS500, and GSF. Then they want to say "Experience Amazing" at the end? GTFO. Experience amazing in 2020, sure. Not anymore.
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With the LC gone this year, Lexus will have no choice but to use those SUVs for track experiences. I can guarantee it’ll be interesting the kind where excessive body roll becomes the experience itself.

Brand of Shame
 
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