Why No Diesel Anymore?

[dr j]

Because the diesel version of the car was hideous by Lexus "perceived" standards. The build quality was basically ok - shell of an IS 250 - fair enough. But the engine was shoehorned into the car from an Avensis, then mated to an obsolete truck transmission (2005 Tundra) to account for the RWD and amount of torque. Added with the hideous gearing ratios on all cars except the Sport as well as the added weight (upwards of 100 kilos compared to a 320d or a C-Class) and you had:

Good looking car as is the IS 250 (but lacking the dual tailpipes, making the rear end bland)

A slow car off the line due to the long gear ratio

Mileage that easily topped 9 litres/100 km without pushing the car. Upwards of 10 and 11 litres if in a Sport version and driving hard.

Expensive DPF issues due to the DPF being welded to the Cat converter, and easy blockage.

Constant regeneration via 5th injector with a horrible sooty smell and extreme quantities of smoke generated.

Noisy, clunky gearbox with reports of gearbox slippage.

So basically a Lexus made for Europe in which all the adaptations "made for Europe" were horrible. I imagine Peugeot or Citroen attempting to make a muscle car and selling it in the US lol.

I know. I own an IS 220d. It has been chugging along and I have high mileage, but no enjoyment whatsoever. It´s not fun, it´s not smooth, it does nothing particularly poorly yet is not really good at anything either.

The gasoline version is by no means a massive hit. In the US it is average at best. Europe doesn´t have the 350 or the 250 awd.

When I asked my mechanic what he thought of the car - "Depends on what you want". If you want to keep driving a diesel, you could do worse.

Lexus - "Pursuit Of Perfection"

Lexus IS 220d - "You could do worse"

Hardly a glowing endorsement.

Cheers

[toffee_pie]

I never really get the thing with diesel owners being so patriotic towards cars that clearly are not as good as petrol equivalents.

the lexus 220d is not a very good car at all, and for a lexus in particular it harms the brand more than anything. Its hardly rocket science.

as for economy, the full tank range on a 250 varies from late 300s-400 to well over 500 if a recent poster is anything is to go by, i would say a diesel would get 500 ish miles to the tank, maybe more but more important is the petrol is a much nicer driving experience.

I would not get a diesel to 'save' on cheaper miles to the gallon or running range over a petrol that has a far superior driving ride and less problems likely to occur.

[Vintagesixtysix]

All true, but the Lexus Diesel niche has only ever existed in a few countries within its Market - particularly not in the USA..(fjc)

I think you may of hit the nail on the head with the above.....below sales figures for USA in 2013.

In the Uk for Lexus you could probably move the comma forward a digit or two quite easily ;-)

Mercedes: 334,344 total sales (up 13% over 2012)

BMW: 309,280 total sales (up 10% over 2012)

Lexus: 273,847 total sales (up 12% over 2012)

Cadillac: 182,543 total sales (up 22% over 2012)

Below article from April 2014....USA still in growth and Lexus growing disproportionally. This might suggest the manufacturing volume is needed to for petrol. Diesel and the R&D ( refinement tweaks on standard) required to keep up becomes proportionally more expensive for a declining % of business.

Lexus steadily is gaining ground on rivals BMW and Mercedes Benz. If current sales trends continue Lexus will pass both of the luxury car icons’ US sales in this calendar year. Luxury and premium cars sell in numbers that are much smaller than conventional brands. For example, BMW in the month of April sold 25,202 vehicles in North America and Mercedes sold 25,887. Toyota’s Corolla (29,000) and Camry (38,000) models each outsell BMW and Mercedes individually in North America every month. This is not big news. What is big news is that Lexus’ growth rate of 18% year to date vs. last year to date, and its staggering 28% growth in April, is bending the curve to show an intersection with BMW’s and Mercedes’ sales rate some time later in 2014. In April Lexus sold 23,156 vehicles.

The main contributors to this change are the very car classes that BMW and Mercedes rely on most. Lexus’ IS line of compact sport sedans has more than doubled its sales rate since the new model was introduced. Although the BMW 3 and 4 series are still larger in sales, the Lexus cars are gaining fast. Worse news for BMW is that Lexus has not even introduced its 4 Series equivalent yet, called the RC, but is about to. The one-two punch of Lexus higher sales growth rate coupled with the introduction of the RC is all it might take for Lexus to pass BMW overall.

This will all (99%) be petrol / petrol- hybrid.....our cousins over the pond will never embrace diesel as we have in Europe.

V66

Sent from my iPad using Lexus OC

[toffee_pie]

aye, the future for Lexus is clearly petrol and petrol/hybrid models.

[michaelH]

Just seen today that what car make the is220d their best buy used exec. Car for 2014. Depreciation makes it a good buy, it seems. I suppose they ignored the 250 auto on the basis that the v6 is thirsty, but since used cars are not likely to be fleet cars I think they maybe rather missing the point.

Some here have been dismissive of the hybrid idea, but my 300h Lux regularly returns 50 mpg or more in mixed driving ( measured at the pump, not just the in car display) and 60 mpg if driven in granny mode on the open road, and is very refined, as well as having only £10 pa VED, so it makes sense for Lexus to take that route.

[ColinBarber]

All true, but the Lexus Diesel niche has only ever existed in a few countries within its Market - particularly not in the USA..(fjc)

I think you may of hit the nail on the head with the above.....below sales figures for USA in 2013.

In the Uk for Lexus you could probably move the comma forward a digit or two quite easily ;-)

Mercedes: 334,344 total sales (up 13% over 2012)

BMW: 309,280 total sales (up 10% over 2012)

Lexus: 273,847 total sales (up 12% over 2012)

Cadillac: 182,543 total sales (up 22% over 2012)

Below article from April 2014....USA still in growth and Lexus growing disproportionally. This might suggest the manufacturing volume is needed to for petrol. Diesel and the R&D ( refinement tweaks on standard) required to keep up becomes proportionally more expensive for a declining % of business.

Lexus steadily is gaining ground on rivals BMW and Mercedes Benz. If current sales trends continue Lexus will pass both of the luxury car icons’ US sales in this calendar year. Luxury and premium cars sell in numbers that are much smaller than conventional brands. For example, BMW in the month of April sold 25,202 vehicles in North America and Mercedes sold 25,887. Toyota’s Corolla (29,000) and Camry (38,000) models each outsell BMW and Mercedes individually in North America every month. This is not big news. What is big news is that Lexus’ growth rate of 18% year to date vs. last year to date, and its staggering 28% growth in April, is bending the curve to show an intersection with BMW’s and Mercedes’ sales rate some time later in 2014. In April Lexus sold 23,156 vehicles.

The main contributors to this change are the very car classes that BMW and Mercedes rely on most. Lexus’ IS line of compact sport sedans has more than doubled its sales rate since the new model was introduced. Although the BMW 3 and 4 series are still larger in sales, the Lexus cars are gaining fast. Worse news for BMW is that Lexus has not even introduced its 4 Series equivalent yet, called the RC, but is about to. The one-two punch of Lexus higher sales growth rate coupled with the introduction of the RC is all it might take for Lexus to pass BMW overall.

This will all (99%) be petrol / petrol- hybrid.....our cousins over the pond will never embrace diesel as we have in Europe.

V66

Sent from my iPad using Lexus OC

you seem to be surprised that Lexus is gaining market share in the US.

Lexus was number 1 in the US for 10+ years until 2011, they dropped the ball along with production cuts due to natural disasters at the same time that it became cool to have a European luxury car. Lexus are now trying to regain their number 1 position, and doing so doesn't involve wasting time trying to develop and sell an oil burner which makes up fraction of a percent of their total sales.