Toyota's luxury subsidiary is driving forward with a take no prisoners attitude. Green technology combined with the ultimate in luxury and performance was their mission. The aim: to make the quintessential car of cars.
The Lexus LS600hL - a hybrid flagship that sits on a lengthened wheelbase and provides for the rear occupants in a manner akin to the Maybach. Rear displays with DVD, electrically adjustable seats that recline into dentist-styled easy chairs with extended footrests.
The new flagship has an added bonus - it actually looks good. Compared to its frumpy, W140-S-Class-wannabe predecessor, the new LS seems to have finally come into its own. The new flagship has graceful, curving lines that manage to provide a respectable level of design tension. The folks at Lexus have produced a car that shows just about as much breeding as the BMW 7-Series and the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
It's difficult for me to say, but that's the feeling I walked away from the rotating display with.
The GS450h was there as well and technically, it too was premiering alongside the new flagship and the new ES350 at the New York Auto Show. It didn't really move me, though I did appreciate the fact that it is a hybrid.
As I posted previously, plan on Lexus' entire lineup to have hybrid options. I predict that before long the SC Convertible will be the world's first drop-top hybrid. It will probably arrive in time for Summer 2007.
The ES350 is impressive. I was actually impressed by its suburban looking predecessor - a luxury sedan which shared the Camry's platform and that despite its banal exterior, was an opulent haven inside with some of the best materials used in the business. The difference between the last ES and the LS seemed non-existent in quality terms.
The new ES maintains that standard of excellence (though a decrease in exterior looks in my opinion; too close to the Camry), plus an added bonus - panorama rooves for front and rear passengers. Sitting in the rear is a real treat for the view through the tinted roof glass is expansive.
The front occupants are less fortunate. The roofline cuts into the headroom sharply - I banged my head getting in and found the need to put the seat all the way back in order to get decent headroom.
Due to the location of the seat, the view through the moonroof is skewed such that the front occupants are unable to appreciate the feature as fully as the rear occupants.
I am more and more impressed with Lexus as time passes. Their display at the New York Auto Show only enhances my respect for the automaker and triggers an interest to investigate their new flagship further.
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