Recall the LF-CC's front fascia ...
View attachment 1481
and for comparison ...
View attachment 1480
This isn't surpising, because as seen with the GS facelift and 2011 LF-Gh, this is usually the reality. The facelift assignment basically becomes a do-over to become more related to the show-stopping concept that was used to tease the public.
The original 4GS was never "toned down" like some people claim, as the designer's task in 2007-08 was to create a
production design proposal, not some out-there concept like the LF-LC' case. Why this fact continues to fly over our heads, I don't know really.
The LF-CC was meant to hint at an incoming Lexus coupe, taking bits of the RC's front design and chopping the two rear doors from the XE30 IS.
The ideation sketches from 2009-2010 for the XE30 IS are so identical to 2012 LF-CC sketches it's ridiculous.
I think we will see this with the NX facelift next year, in that it becomes more aligned with the LF-NX Concept of 2013.
i really like new lights when they are on... they look good. Overall design is more coherent now.
Old one were good for LED but only ok for standard lights, in any case nothing special anymore. Rear lights are nice.
Interior changes - more leather, i like it. Obviously 10.3" screen is nice and it should have nice graphics with better resolution like RX.
It is not a huge update but IS looked good as it is. I expected 3.5l to get new revision but i guess not... 2.0t is new anyway.
It sounds to me as they are waiting for the 2018 LS to introduce new 6-cylinder power plants. If that car is delayed due to recent earthquakes, it just makes things worse for the Toyota Motor Corporation overall.
Toyota used to improve engines much more in the past, than they have been doing now. The UZ V8 was updated quite competitively compared to the UR.
I like the refresh. Very tastefully done. Should continue to do its job, attracting a younger, more sporting buyer to the Lexus brand.
That said the strengths of the Lexus two-car approach in the entry-level luxury class underline a weakness of the approach as well.
Lexus, for some reason, has not bothered to create an M3 competitor in this generation. And the new C-Class has raised the bar for interior luxury, making this interior seem cut-rate, in comparison. This is a fine sports sedan next to the 340i, but it is clearly a step down to a C450 AMG, which is $50-60k, or the M3/S63. Lexus needs to get the next IS, in 2018, to that level. The next 3-series will lose weight, and hopefully this IS will too, as one of the heaviest cars in this class.
In luxury, power and weight/efficiency, the IS has been left behind by the C-Class and 3-series. This may explain the drop in sales for the IS, even after the new engines came out last fall. Hopefully, lexus is paying attention to the competition, and is working on a strong follow-up to this solid sports sedan.
BD
The next IS is not coming any sooner than August 2019, so 2018 not in the question. That year will likely be a new GS, which should be released (to my pref.) in December 2018 for proper ROI from an 84-month 4GS life cycle.
Thanks for the clarification.
MY2001 is the first year for 1st gen IS300 sold in North America and it debuted in early summer of 2000. IS200 was also sold since 1998 in Europe, Australia, etc. Basically that was a rebadged Altezza.
When IS300 was introduced to North America, Lexus has improved some minor details in the interior to make it more a Lexus than a Toyota. In fact, they continued to add some plastic coverings for the bottom of the seat in the 2nd year of North American 1st gen IS300. And they added HID to IS300 as well.
Best info is here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus_IS#1998.E2.80.932000
Yes, I contribute greatly to that Wikipedia page (and more) when I can, along with another individual from Australia. I have gotten lazy though (compared to my uni days), due to pressing matters like work and personal business.
Please take things with a grain of salt though, as there are plenty of vandals making spurious edits that go unnoticed.
As for the IS, it was intended to be a BMW E36 competitor in many ways, thus a Lexus. Development started in early 1994, with styling approval in late 1995 after an 18-month design process.
The IS300 trademark was first filed in 1997, with the Lexus-badged IS200 going into production in January 1999, for March release in Europe. Very excellent write-up BTW.
According to the attachment from the following site, the new IS may be announced in 2018 as a 2019 model:
http://www.autonews.com/section/fproductguide
Automotive News is credible, but not always credible. They fall victim to the very thing that I do, change in product plans or conflicting rumours, that are sometimes deliberate or borne out of ignorance.
Please also understand that there is a difference in model year and production year. People tend to mix these up, screwing up the timeline.
I could say the "LC500 is coming out 2018", but one wouldn't know what to concretely make of that statement since it's laden with poor grammar and vague in some ways.
The truth of that would be is, pilot production starts in June 2016, series production in December, and market launch in March 2017 for the 2018 model year. Quite earlier than 2018 in fact.
Japanese magazines pointed towards November 2016 for a new SC/LC for 3 years now and always referred to the 950A programme. See how close they are?
The next IS aka XE40 or 4IS will arrive no sooner than August 2019 and no later than Q1 2021.
The LS will be coming in two years, and 2019 is when a complete redesign is coming according to your reference.
Not particularly true in the least, where did you garner that from? If it is not based on recent developments and decision making in the last 4 weeks, I am not convinced.
Unless Lexus wants be pulling an Infiniti and leaving it to rot out on the vine. Keeping the car unchanged for 6-7 years is laughable.
The current LS was last updated in September 2012 and has received no changes like was seen between the MY2007-09 and MY2010-12. It was introduced in 2006.
If Lexus pulls out an updated LS for MY2017, I won't be amused, but at least they are doing something in the interim. The real problem here is that some people hear a numerical year and think it refers to January-December.
Mark Templin was misquoted in an interview recently, where the lazy writer put down 2018 as the launch year. He likely meant MY instead.
Japanese publications only care about launch year, they could give a bloody damn about model years that Americans use.
May 2017 is likely a start of production date. May 1989 was that for the MY1990 LS400, which arrived in September 1989. Lead time has since shortened, that it could mean July-August 2017 for MY2018.
The LS430 to be honest entered production in July/August 2000, the LS460 in July-August 2006. Auto News has pointed towards a Summer 2017 launch for the past 2 years and have never changed their stance.
Even in the face of stupid rumours regarding Tokyo 2015, which I summarily dismissed as being a concept.
I really do not know where people are getting 2018-2019 from for the 5LS. It is coming next year, that I can bet you will see prototypes in the next few months for U.S. hot weather or high altitude testing.
Only the recent earthquake could have set them back. The last thing they need to be doing is clustering redesigns of the LS, GS, ES and IS with UX,
GX. Get it done for no later than Jan. 2018 sales launch. A 12-year life cycle is pitiful, when even the NX has more tech than the LS already.
I'm confident we'll have a new LS next year.
If we don't, I'm jumping ship for Acura.
DON'T MAKE ME DO IT, LEXUS!
I know I am not the best source, but I would dismiss such rumours and brush up on your Japanese. There is so much information in the form of spy shots, corresponding literature, and forum traffic we are missing from Japan.
I do find it weird how the LC was caught 16 months before production starts last summer, yet if the LS starts production around May 2017, all we have seen was a mule 11 months ago and nothing else. It is being cleverly hidden, we have missed something, or truly delayed.
I learned recently that back in March 2012, when all of us were pretty much expecting a standard redesign for MY2014, the MY2013 LS facelift was not only teased officially at Geneva, but also leaked in the form of these spy shots of an RHD prototype in Japan.
US spy shots didn't surface until May-June 2012.
The new 12.3 inch screen and interior were leaked, without any of us knowing until its debut 4 months later in late July 2012 about such changes.
The 4RX design was pretty much given away by a Japanese magazine in April 2014, yet none of us (non-insiders) had a clue until January 2015 what it looked like.
Look at this early shot of the LC.
Start ignoring "Western media" (lol) in regards to Lexus Future product and turn your focus to Japanese news. The C&Ds, Motor Trend, and Auto Blog seem that they couldn't care less, if it's not about an M, RS, or AMG. So many tidbits are missed by them or reported belatedly.
Even Australia is better and just as credible. Auto Express leaked the MY2007 LS in its entirety back in September 2005, even before the LF-Sh was shown!
If it doesn't have Alain Uyetthoven behind it from Europe, I wouldn't bother listening. I figure he's been reined in by HQ lately, as he used to be such a blabbermouth regarding future product.
Some sources reported that, the ALL-NEW LS will be launched in May 2017 ....
It will be 2018 or 2019 model year ...
Summer 2017 has been quoted for quite awhile now, especially by Automotive News. It was really not so reputable American and lower tier European sources that kept throwing out random dates, such as Tokyo 2015 debut or in 2016.
That never really was the case. The May 2015 mule spy shots and consistent Japanese sources, have confirmed May 2017 for me solidly. Only recent decision-making could result in a delayed car.
It may seem inappropriate to talk about that in the IS facelift thread, but 5LS is partly responsible for the fact the IS uses the same engine it had 11 years ago. They are waiting to debut a new 3.0 litre unit in the flagship.
2019 model year is not applicable, unless it had been delayed again.
Sorry, I was referring to the LS at first, the source said the new LS will be for the 2017 year, but someone said in an interview that we will have to wait another two years for it, and then I was talking about the IS afterward. So this is the refresh, and 2019 is when the redesigned IS model will release according to your source.
Based on what interview? The only interview that dared to claim anything past December 2017 for the world market was the lazy writings of an indifferent individual, who took her source's statements out of context.
Some of us in the industry will refer to model years in a manner that can be miscontrued to the receiving party as an actual date. Templin was likely referring to the 2018 model year, not a release in 2018. We'll see anyway and if I'm wrong, I'm wrong.
At this point, I just feel it was a bad idea to save the new TTV6 for the LS and not updated versions of the GS and IS.
The RC facelift comes next year too, so maybe that could mean a cabriolet.
