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2019 Lexus ES 350 starts at just $550 more than outgoing model

Lexus wants you to pay attention to the 2019 ES. The all-new, seventh-generation midsize sedan that Lexus benchmarked against the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Audi A6 gets a base price that just a few hundred over the old car. The entry-level ES 350 starts at $39,500; after $1,025 for destination and handling, that's $40,525 out the door and $550 more Washingtons than the 2018 model required. The mid-level ES 300h starts at $43,310, or $44,335 out the door. That saves $510 compared to the 2018 version, and it gets better fuel economy. The all-new ES 350 F Sport starts at $44,035, for $45,060 out the door. Every model rides on the Toyota New Global Architecture, known as GA-K here. The lighter, stiffer body hides improved mechanicals like rack-mounted electric power steering, and a new multilink rear suspension that encouraged fun driving during our recent review. The updated Lexus Safety System+ 2.0 comes standard on all models, and incorporates new features like daytime bicyclist detection and low light pedestrian detection. The ES 350 and ES 350 F Sport get a 3.5-liter V6 with 302 horsepower and 267 pound-feet of torque, 34 hp and 19 lb-ft over the former sedan, working through a new eight-speed transmission. The F trim makes itself known with 19-inch wheels, rear spoiler, and retuned suspension. EPA ratings for the ES 350 come in at 22 mpg city, 33 mpg highway and 26 mpg combined, an increase of two more miles per gallon on the combined cycle. The ES 350 F Sport is rated at 22 mpg city, 31 mpg highway and 25 mpg combined. The ES 350h uses a 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder with fourth-generation Hybrid Drive. The 215 total horsepower from the ICE and electric motor returns 43 mpg city, 45 mpg highway, and 44 mpg combined. Lexus says this makes it the most frugal luxury car out there that doesn't have a plug. The ES is also the first Lexus to offer Apple CarPlay, on top of being able to use Amazon Alexa to communicate between the sedan and the home. The 2019 Lexus ES goes on sale in September. Related Video:

Lexus promises to unveil two updated models at Pebble Beach

Lexus has announced it will stage the global debuts of two updated models at Pebble Beach later this week. But it isn't saying which models they will be. However we can take an educated guess or two. Two of the oldest nameplates in the Lexus lineup at present are its flagship models: namely, the LS sedan and the LX sport-ute. The original LS was first introduced back in 1989, with the current fourth-generation model rolled out in 2006. (That's the Pebble Beach edition of the 2009 LS 600h pictured above.) It's undergone incremental updates in the decade since, with the last one having arrived in 2012. With much newer examples of the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7 Series having recently been launched, Toyota will likely want to keep its flagship sedan up to date and competitive with newer rivals. Meanwhile the LX first launched in 1995 as a rebadged and luxed-up version of the Toyota Land Cruiser. The current third-generation model arrived in 2007, and was updated in 2012 alongside the aforementioned LS sedan. Sales of the LX have been floundering, spurring Lexus to potentially launch an entirely different flagship crossover to take its place. But before that happens, it is expected to launch another facelift for the existing model. Photos of that updated version have already leaked out and begun circulating, so we wouldn't be surprised to see the new LX 570 debut in Monterey as well. Both are expected to adopt more aggressive styling in line with other, newer models in the lineup, along with the latest technologies Toyota has to offer. Whatever form they take, we won't have to wait long to find out what Lexus has in store for us. The unveiling of both its freshly updated new models is set to take place on Thursday, so watch this space. Related Video: MEDIA ADVISORY - LEXUS TO UNVEIL TWO UPDATED MODELS AT PEBBLE BEACH August 10, 2015 -- Lexus plans to stage the global premiere of two updated models in Pebble Beach during the days leading up to the 2015 Concours d' Elegance. The reveal will take place at 7 p.m. PDT, Thursday, Aug. 13, and all materials will be available on www.LexusNewsroom.com simultaneously.

Lexus in no hurry to be a big player in China

For a while now, China's spiraling wealth, population and development has had the world's luxury automakers in an expansionist fervor, with many executives exhibiting the sort of gleefully maniacal behavior historically reserved for gold-rush prospectors. Yet Toyota, of all companies, is exercising a surprising amount of caution in the Asian nation.
As The Wall Street Journal notes, Toyota's premium brand, Lexus, sold all of 64,000 vehicles in China last year, while BMW cleared its books of 326,000. In fact, it didn't even bother entering the market until 2005, while rival Audi built its first car in the market a decade and a half earlier. Even now, Lexus doesn't build any vehicles in China, and with the country's notoriously high tariffs on imports, that's a major disadvantage. Yet the business daily quotes Lexus executive vice president Mark Templin as saying that the brand is nowhere near ready to start building cars in the market. "We're not having those discussions about when we're going to go to China... We have a lot of work to do before we get to that point."
Part of that work includes establishing a more expansive dealer network - Lexus only had 99 stores as of 2012, while rival Mercedes-Benz had over two-and-a-half times as many, and it's still expanding. Adding a lot of dealers without having a goodly number of competitively priced offerings for them to sell may seem like an odd strategy, but Templin tells the WSJ that the goal is to "cultivate our image for quality and customer service and let the customers that we have go tell that story for us."