2001 Lexus Gs 430 Rear Wheel Drive 4.3l V8 32v Automatic 144278 Miles on 2040-cars

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Lexus eschews production in China over quality concerns

One of the more popular trends in the auto industry is setting up production operations in China. Mainstream manufacturers like Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen have done it, and even luxury marques like Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have or will soon have manufacturing ops in the People's Republic.
One company that isn't building cars in China, though, is Lexus. The Toyota-owned luxury brand still manufactures all of its vehicles in Japan (aside from a few RXs, which are built at a Toyota factory in Canada). According to Tokuo Fukuichi, Lexus just isn't ready to build cars there yet.
"The German Three have a brand image that they have cultivated over the past century in their long history, but Lexus is not in people's minds like that yet," Fukuichi-san told Reuters UK.

Lexus GS 300 disappears from 2020 lineup

The seven-strong Lexus GS lineup will enter 2020 with only five models in the lineup. Cars Direct found out the entry-level GS 300 will not ring in the new year, the discovery explained by a Lexus spokesperson with, "the GS 300 represented a small percentage of GS sales in 2018." That will leave the standard GS 350 and the GS 350 F Sport, both offered in either rear- or all-wheel drive. With the $47,885 GS 300 out of the game, the price of entry for the range goes up to $52,420 for the GS 350 RWD. That price represents a $150 increase over 2019, and an MSRP of $51,395 plus a $1,025 charge for destination and handling. Perhaps it's a sign of how much Lexus believes in the sport sedan credentials of the GS 350 that the rear-wheel-drive version currently on sale costs $330 more than the all-wheel-drive model. This is reversed for the F Sport trims, with the GS 350 F Sport AWD needing $1,745 more than version with a driven rear axle only. If pricing differentials hold across the range into 2020, that would make the GS 350 AWD $52,090, the GS 350 F Sport RWD would cost $53,785, and the GS 350 F Sport AWD $55,530. The GS F, charging along with a 5.0-liter V8 producing 467 horsepower and 389 pound-feet of torque sent to the rear wheels only, will run $86,035. That's a $560 bump over the 2019 model year. Since the GS F 10th Anniversary Edition celebrated the tenth anniversary of F performance this year, we don't expect the $89,350 sedan to continue into next year. The GS has been in the spotlight at Lexus HQ since last summer, when the brand's general manager told Automotive News "we're certainly evaluating both vehicles," speaking of the GS and IS. For next year, the 241-horsepower GS 300 slips off the scene, but one wonders how long even the 311-hp GS 350 can stick around when the entire lineup sold just 6,604 units in the U.S. last year. Sales are down more than 50 percent this year, down from a 2015 high of 23,117. The new ES is just nine horses down on the GS, $7,000 less expensive, and sold 50 percent more units in the U.S. in January than the GS has so far this year. With no news of an updated GS on the way and the ES rumored to add an all-wheel-drive trim for 2020, the GS could have a hard time standing up to business-case scrutiny.

Lexus RC F takes star turn in 'Men in Black: International' blockbuster

Here's a little car candy for the holidays. There have been three :Men in Black" films, the last one in 2012 (even though it seems a lot longer ago, doesn't it?). "Men in Black: International," due for release on June 14, looks like it will showcase its vehicles in a way the previous movies didn't, starting with getting the Lexus RC F ready for its close-up. This will be Lexus' second blockbuster turn in two years, after putting an LC in the line of fire in this year's "Black Panther". And if "MIB: International" gives off the whiff of petrol, that's at last partly because F. Gary Gray directs, the man behind 2003's "The Italian Job " and 2017's " The Fate of the Furious." This is the first "MIB" to give the agents a whiz-bang modern car. The most modern vehicle previously was a "new hotness" 2003 Mercedes-Benz E550 in the 2002 sequel, but that was primarily a joke referring to the 1986 Ford LTD, referred to as a "Ford P.O.S.," in the first movie. The third film, which took place in the sixties, used a 1964 Ford Galaxie. "MIB: International" includes a few throwbacks to the movies and the television series. The RC F goes airborne with the help of a big red button, just like that '86 LTD. A bigger and better hovercycle ties into the hovercycle from the TV show. The all-new move comes with a mid-seventies Jaguar XJ; whereas the first agents merely retrieved their weapons from the trunk, the XJ not only holds weapons, it disassembles into weapons systems. As Jalopnik noted, in many ways this movie " looks just like 'Thor: Ragnarok' but set in a different universe." Should go well enough with a bucket of popcorn and pail of Coca-Cola, though. Related Video: