Which Lexus products are truly class leading?

[Gecko]

As the title states, which Lexus products do you think are truly class leading? I'm not talking about which one you'd buy or what the sales numbers say, but which product(s) do you think truly stand above their competitors as being best-in-class?

For me, it would be LC and LX.

 

[ssun30]

There are no true class-leading vehicles in Lexus' lineup. Instead, it's good at creating vehicles that are in classes of their own. "Class-leading" vehicles by definition, should stand out in a highly competitive segment with lots of similar products.
ES: a mid-size budget FWD luxury sedan. Other cars are either FWDs of lesser quality, or RWDs of higher price. Only 'close' competition is Buick LaCrosse. In markets where cheap RWD competitors are avaialble, the ES suffers (aka China).
RX: basically the ES in SUV form.
For these two, you can either call them 'the best sedan/SUV based on a transverse FWD platform' (class-leading) or 'a terrible budget premium sedan/SUV that are meant to be longitudinal RWD-based' (class-trailing).
GX: for some reason works well in the U.S. but nothing is similar so it's good enough even though it's bad.
LC: not a lot of brands build pure grand tourers anymore. The only worthy competition is AM DB11 at twice the price.
LX: No more competition after RR goes unibody. The only comparison is the G-Wagen, again at higher price.

I'm not saying Lexus is an uncompetitive company: being able to avoid direct confrontation is the smarter and more efficient way.

 

[Gecko]

There are no true class-leading vehicles in Lexus' lineup. Instead, it's good at creating vehicles that are in classes of their own. "Class-leading" vehicles by definition, should stand out in a highly competitive segment with lots of similar products.
ES: a mid-size budget FWD luxury sedan. Other cars are either FWDs of lesser quality, or RWDs of higher price. Only 'close' competition is Buick LaCrosse. In markets where cheap RWD competitors are avaialble, the ES suffers (aka China).
RX: basically the ES in SUV form.
For these two, you can either call them 'the best sedan/SUV based on a transverse FWD platform' (class-leading) or 'a terrible budget premium sedan/SUV that are meant to be longitudinal RWD-based' (class-trailing).
GX: for some reason works well in the U.S. but nothing is similar so it's good enough even though it's bad.
LC: not a lot of brands build pure grand tourers anymore. The only worthy competition is AM DB11 at twice the price.
LX: No more competition after RR goes unibody. The only comparison is the G-Wagen, again at higher price.

I'm not saying Lexus is an uncompetitive company: being able to avoid direct confrontation is the smarter and more efficient way.

Great post. I agree with your points and thoughts.

Only thing is that I do wish Lexus was more directly challenging the Germans and Koreans with cars like IS, RC and RX... they need more power and more variants.

 

[krew]

There are no true class-leading vehicles in Lexus' lineup. Instead, it's good at creating vehicles that are in classes of their own. "Class-leading" vehicles by definition, should stand out in a highly competitive segment with lots of similar products.

I'm not saying Lexus is an uncompetitive company: being able to avoid direct confrontation is the smarter and more efficient way.

Very well stated, agree with your sentiment.

Here's my thinking -- the LC and GX/LX strategy in North America gives Lexus a different look than other brands, and it works well. RX is the best selling luxury vehicle in the USA, NX is a hit.

All Motor Trend reviews aside, the LS is still unproven against the competition. Pricing is competitive and the design is bold -- unlike anything else on the road. Could do some real work in the flagship sedan segment.

How are we defining class leaders? Sales, or something more subjective?

 

[spwolf]

Class leading is hard to define, are we capping it by price or? I think latest LS is very very nice, with great engines and unique looks inside out, good tech too... LC is best car in the class. LX has no competition.

But also, NX and RX are very competitive and can compete with anything in its price bracket. There is a good reason they are best selling vehicles.

IS, GS, ES, CT, GX are too old right now, looking forward to the updates.