Well I have chimed in a little so far but now it's time for me to go full steam and give my thoughts on this.
I've always been curious of Lexus as a brand. As a 29 year old, I'm by no means the target for Lexus products, but I always found the LS and SC striking barges in my youth - coupled with the fact that they were so rare to see on UK roads that it was something of an occasion to spot one.
Then I started to notice that they were doing this weird grill thing, and at first I didn't like how they looked.
Then I saw the LF-LC concept in red, and my heart skipped a beat. I'm not usually one to remotely bother with concepts because they usually always end up only going so far as concept stage. Then they showed the blue LF-LC and it looked incredible too. Then there was talks of production, and then sure enough production was confirmed. I didn't really think about the car that much for the next few years.
Then all of a sudden, without being a huge Lexus fan, and not following their every move, BAM! The production LC had debuted and it was an absolute carbon copy of the concept! I was gobsmacked. The press conference was kick ass - they even put up the word boring and put a line through it, played the V8 sound of the car and had the doubting quotes pop up before the reveal - 'it'll never look as good' 'it'll be watered down' etc, before the production LC roared onto the video. From that very day onwards, I have made it my sole mission to buy an LC. I sold my 2007 Honda Legend, a lovely car, but expensive to run and own here in the UK, and since that day I have saved hundreds of pounds per month with the view to affording a used example in the next 2-3 years.
In the time afterwards, Lexus was on an absolute roll. The LF-FC appeared, and again it took my breath away. I have visions of a 2-car driveway one day with the gorgeous LC and surely to be produced LF-FC, or next LS. Then the LF-SA appeared, and I had thoughts that if they put that into production, then I may actually buy a brand new car! Tastes differ of course, but in Europe, small hatches like the SA are very popular.
And then something happened.
Lexus started to dry up. Rather than reveal a stunning new LS that was a carbon copy of the LF-FC, like I was certain Lexus would do after seeing the stunning concept to reality job that the LC had, we got 5LS. Don't get me a wrong, it's a pretty handsome car, and the interior is absolutely perfect, but it's not the LF-FC. Gone was the gorgeous blue tone of the concept, the traditional 3 box shape, the distinctive rear end. Instead, the rear was a facelift of the heavily facelift 4LS, the front looked a little awkward from angles and overall...it just wasn't as stunning as I'd hoped.
LF-SA drifted away into the archive, years later still nothing has been said of it and it looks like no plans exist to bring anything like it to market. I guess Lexus are content with the Audi A1 selling a scullion units per year in Europe.
And then there was the UX, a confused mess of a concept, with a production car that was heavily changed (thankfully) but again with questionable looks from some angles.
Then we have the LF-30, a car that Lexus needs NOW in Europe. The premium hatch segment is EXPLOSIVE in Europe, with A-Class, 1-Series and A3 becoming huge sales hits for their respective manufacturers. And the CT compared...well...it's positively embarrassing.
Lexus lured me in with the promise to not be boring, the promise to target more young people with bold designs. But Lexus has left me with now, is an LC that I ultimately still save for every month - but a lineup other than that of confused ageing models.
RX has the old interior design language. ES looks way too much like the LS. The LS should have looked like the LF-FC. The UX isn't bad, but isn't that attractive from most angles either. The CT is laughably old. The NX again looks dated and bland now.
Then we have the more recent disasters. GS is dead. IS is dead (despite being a car that is one of the few Lexus's I see regularly driving around). the LS facelift looks worse, and has a worse interior. The LF1 is taking forever to come to market. The LF-30 is nothing more than a clay-model with a gimmicky launch video, rather than a CT replacement that will be ready in 12-months.
So now I look towards the future. I wonder what the LF1 will bring in the end. It's looking more and more like the car that will either reinvigorate all of our interest in this brand, or the one that will do something absolutely abhorrent and cause most of us to put the final nail in the coffin.