mpls

Fine for now, but they are treading on thin ice. Norway bans the use of the term Self Charging.. Slow product development for Lexus ( behind Toyota) will not sustain Lexus for all the reasons mentioned in previous posts.

For those who haven't seen, the RAV 4 Prime ( not sure if it will be in the UK) looks like a fine machine, this is the kimd of powertrain that should have be on their saloons..T The ony saving grace for Lexus if at all possible is if Toyota woild be the first to develop a Solid state battery and that lexus would be the fiest to use them, and if they ever do they should be re-releasing the GS/IS as EVs, now that would be cool. Just saw video where Clarkson drove a Tesla X, where he commented it was a fast heavy car ( though batteries were at the bottoms for low centre of gravity). There is a limit to Lith-ION and maybe Toyota don;t want to invest heavily in current tech batteries, though I think they are losing out in not even dabbling in EVS for lexus with Lith-Ion batteries. Surely the most profitable car company in the world has all the resources at its disposal to keep Lexus relevant and in peoples minds! Otherwise prepare to be run of the mill company that fades away... might as well throw in the towel now and shut down Lexus division, concentratrng on Toyota only, if making money is the only objective...

Overland... A very interesting post, i think for Lexus EU in cutting costs ( as evident from your info provided) shows the lack of vision and staying power for lexus in the long term. On one hand low sales is the reason they are cutting modes such as the GS/IS, but on the otherhand they do nothing about it. What is Lexus reknowned for excellent service, reliable cars, unique and divisive and sharp design (whch I like). In cutting corners as described by you, it is chopping off one of its strengths. To be honest the way lexus is going here in UK.. I see it happening too. My local Lexus franchise used to be owned by Sytner, now has been sold to Inchcape ( as of 2018). I think under Sytner servcie was much better. ,To stay relevant and in peoples minds they need to refresh, push the boundries, otherwise Lexus will remain low volume only known by existing owners and unable to attract future younger buyers who in turn could become futyre entusuasts. The way Lexus is heading ( will be just Toyota's tarted up). For a company like Toyota, the most profitable csr company in the world to neglect Lexus in the EU/UK will be a big mistake.Surely they have the resources to push the boundries..Lexus should be cutting edge and drivig the company forward with tech and innovation, but it seems it is actually dictated by Toyota and its products.. If I were driving a Toyota now,and i wanted to move to something more luxurious it would not be a Lexus, essentially the same csr with slower tech nzd same powertrainetc.. I'd move to another brand. Lexus truely needs to wake up in the EU/UK and oush HLQ to do something about it.. Lexus marketing in the UK has really let down Lexus for the past 15 years.. first for the GS, then for the IS... e..g the clueless IS TV adverts... ( strong poise, control.. ballet dancer and Athlete), what was that ? rubbish ? Where was the refinement push ? where was the comparisons to diesels which was at a criticl juncture at the time.. Total lost opportunties for increaed sales through better marketing.. Lost sales and therefore low sales that became the reason for dropping GS/IS etc... I'm', wondering how :exus EU/UK can give account to their actions/performance back to Lexus/Tpyota HQ in Japan...

The side profile has the look of the 2021 Acura TLX (in USA) which to me looks like a HondaAcura that should be sold in the UK. It's bee a long time since Honda made good looing cars since the Accord or current NSX

Reading around.. it looks like the new IS is just a refresh. I've had confirmation from Toyota GB Lexus division that the new IS will not come to UK/EU.

I've had further thoughts.. I think since the upcoming IS is more of a refresh rather than a redesgn, rear lights tweaks etc.. and with the csr msrket ina satte of flux at the moment, i hope they see sense and coe back with a 5th gen with a strong PHEV and BEV.. and as ghost_killer says C-class/A4/£ series sell... Who thinks the new BMW with its extened front grille doenwards looks like an IS F sport from the front.. whilst the rear looks like any of the ES/GS/IS etc..?

Lexus GB may not have direct inflence but feed back and reflection must have been lacking to HQ? If I'm not mistaken CO2 output based taxation for cars is only in few EU coutries, i think more prominantly UK, shows UK should have had a big influence. Whist as a whole the UK car market is huge possibly 2nd behind Germany, leaving that aside, small market share is something that could have been worked on back between 2007 upto around few years ago. that goes back to my point, about marketing, pushing the advantages of petrol hybrids over diesel. The German branda have gotten away with selling more diesels that it deserves epescially in the light of dieselgate and now they have the producst to waft in with PHEVs and EVs.. The distinction of diesels Vs Hybrids should have been maximised beyond just comparible fuel economny for most drivers especially when Lexus/Toyota gave up on develoment of diesels back late 2000s. The way Lexus GB tnhinks ad operates means Lexus here will only appeal to entusiastes with slow influences over new customers and remaining with a relatively small market share. This small market share then becomes the excuse. On TV last night I'm still seeing the phrase self sharging, didn't one scandinavian country ban this phrase recently?

I think the next IS is more of a refresh (with lighting changes etc,,) that tides them over in the US markets.. My feeling is that lexus is stuck in a hard place. they don;t really wnat to release an IS that is plug in Hybrid, i think it'll come back as afull EV ( with solid state batteries) or FC ( if it ever takes off which i doubt). Lexus has seriously missed the boat on PHEV, something they should be dominating in,, if you look at the likes of BMW/Merc/Polestar... even lesser brands have plug in hybrids , that can claim performance and headline grabbing economy that beats Lexus/Toyota,. As a lexus owner(on 2nd one) the only thing going for lexus is looks, reliibility, refinement and dealership service.. They just messed up by pushing self charging hybrids for so long and milking it for too long,, The marketing team of lexus UK should all be fired for not reading the market and regulatory condidtions that have changed or evolved over last few years.. The CEO of BP gets chauffered around in a LS500H., the refinedment of petrol/Hybrids over deisels should have been emphasised along long time ago in ads such as depicting a CEO arriving in a rattling diesel vs arriving in a lexus hybrids.. I think they concentrated too much on fuel economny, it should have been on refinement, emmisions as well.. A long rant, but sad to see the state of as mentiooed by Toyta recently who sai Lexus needs to change cadence, products and powertrain...

I think that if they dont release the new model IS, it'll come back in the future as an EV or Fuel cell ( if it ever takes off)

Time for the IS to be a PHEV, self chargug does not cut it anymore, every other make has PHEV. in its lineup/ looking at the rear, the shape looks like the rear of the current facelifted IS with the rear lights joined together. no bad thing imho. having just read autocar piece. i think it would be a bad idea to not have this in the UK/

Lately there has been exciting news from Lexus/Toyota, with Lexus showing off the LF-30 EV concept as well as the almost production ready UX300e EV, whist Toyota showed off the new Toyota RAv4 (Prime) - plug-in.. It is the RAV4 that got me thinking, due to the specs that were revealed.. 302bhp, upto 39miles in EV mode, 90MPGe (USA ?) and 0-60mph in 5.8ecs etc.. I bought my IS300H outright early this year, though i am happy with the car and it has been very reliable, i didn't want more of the same by switching to a 2019 model through another personal PCP.. I wasn't really interested in any other brands and not really ready for full EV.. hence my thoughts for a next Gen IS and wish list. If Lexus were to announce a new iS then it would need to up their game, considering the competition from BMW, Volvo, Merc plug-ins... in terms of the MPG and performace etc.. Is a replacement ready/paproved and when will it be announced ? or if the IS sized saloon in the elxus range be ended ?

80 Euro for installation, it'll cost much more in the UK..

Excellent post...

Apparently a trade mark filing has been made in Europe https://lexusenthusiast.com/2018/12/18/lexus-files-trademark-for-ux-300e-in-europe/

Interesting.. On thursdsay, i did a return journey to North London from Leicester just over 211 miles.. It was showing 57,8 mpg, I did not think it was possible on an F-Sport. It was a full tank when i left Leicester Sainsburys ( Fosse park) i think i could have got it higher, because i remember seeing it at 60.4mpg when i got to London.. but on the way up i had to do more hard accelerstion a number of times.. Currently, i'm still on 53.4mpg on the same tank of fuel.. My point being that . anything up to 70-80mph, its not the actual speed that determines the economy, but the speed of the engine in RPM.. Hard acceleration will always reduce fuel economy because you are putting load on the engine suddenly.. Either in normal/eco mode gentley accelerate to desired speed then keep at contant speed or in sports mode quickly get up to speed to desired speed and keep at the constant speed then change back to eco/normal. Key is not to always do constant change of speeds i.e accelerate So on the motorway i use cruise control snd when i check the RPM in sports mode i see its at round 1500rpm.. unless it's going u hill hence rpm goes higher..and uses more fuel... i somestimes stop cruise control and use gentle throttle to not let the rpm rev too higher, of course balancing the speed you need to go at to climb the incline.. When i use cruise control i sometimes use up/down setting to slwo slow down speed of car if I'm xarching car in front too far ( my cruise ciontrol does not have radar control). I think the key is therefore to keep at the optimum engine rpm ( i think between 1000rpm-1750rpm) for best fuel economy. that is my experience..

haha true.....

I'm not in the market for this new car. My commentg on this car is that is that the starting price should be around £27K like the BMW X2, not at £29K. I suppose for a car made outside of the EU, it is difficult to match the EU made X2. Perhaps when the Japan/QU trade deal kicks in, pricing for alot of japanese gods in the EU can be made more competitive...but as for UK, not sur what will happen, wether we can benefit or not due to whats happening with Brexit..

Some interesting bits about the erodynamics of the new UX. I like the way they do things at Lexus, in regards to shape/formf/function and look/style. https://blog.lexus.co.uk/aerodynamic-innovations-of-the-new-lexus-ux/

Apparently charge and dis-charge cycles are much better than Li-Ion.. note from experience what's in a typical mobile phones after less than 2 years, the battery has lost its ability to store as much charge as when new... the rate of decay on Li-Ion is much worse than NiMh.. Aren't many companies inckuding Toyota trying to develop next gen batteries that are solid state etc that are supposedly much better.. to get higher power density in smaller volume than current battery tech...

I have mine set for 30 secs too and also find it's too short.. i think 60 secs is ideal.. I wonder if there is any hidden setting tht allows it to be set longer than 30secs...

Sorry, why shoud I share my findings, find it yourself ! It seems even if cold hard facts were presented in front of you you'd still deny it and twist the facts, evident from many comments you make on this forum.. you are entitiled to your opinion, but you cannot force it on others. I never said the average car was a Lexus.. did you just twist or did not comprehend the post ? I used the Lexus ES as an example of a car doing 0-60 in 8.5, my pointy being a car that does 0-60 in 8.5 secs is fast enough for an average driver in the UK.. Now even a car doing 0-60 in 10secs can safely join a motorway lessons.. .. if you can't, I seriously hope you stop driving or get some motorway driving lessons Back to hybrids, i'm willing to bet i can get my hybrid is300H from 0-60 consistently quicker that your IS250, on average without wrecking my eCVT, and definitely not my clutch as i don't have one. thank you..

That's a very good point. The average of UK cars 0-60mph is actually more than 10 secs. So I don't know where the crazy theory of cars doing 0-60 greater than 10 sec are dangerous comes from. But back to Lexus es, a car that can do 0-60 in around 8.5 is plenty fast for an average user. Also it's not just about 0-60, especially when joining motorways, 30-60 is more relevant.

I'm not so sure for Lexus leicester, for my last car i thnk they just replaced the rubber and it was terrible likewise with my current car in its first year. I just think they sourced non denso rubber. at least with the whole denso wiper ypu'll know it's all genuine.. maybe Sytner ( previous owner of lexus Leicester) were cutting corners..

You are right Lexus dealers just replace the rubber, well for Lexus Leicester anyway, i saw them doing in first year of my cars ownership on my car dash cam. whatever rubber they use is of rubbish quality, didn't work well for long and made screeching noises soon after. As recommended by you guys I've replaced the whole part with Denso OEM wipers and they perform like as new when i first got my car.. Now I'm not worried whether it rains or partially rains as its absolute bliss to see the wipers doing its job without annoying me..

Thanks all.. I've ordered the Denso Hybrids from Euro carparts and will be picking them up on Monday, There's an offer on at the moment...