Lexus Knows It Needs to Improve Its Sedans or Prepare Them for a Merciful Death

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

With crossovers on the rise, and more car-like than ever, Toyota’a global branding chief Tokuo Fukuichi knows that Lexus sedans need to offer more to customers or prepare to join the Tyrannosaurus rex in extinction. Lexus has shifted to become SUV-inclusive, but sedans still comprise a large portion of its lineup.

Lexus’ strategy is to improve the driving dynamics on its sedans to a level that crossovers cannot match, using the lower center of gravity to their advantage. It also wants to make its more traditional cars more appealing to a broader and less-stodgy consumer base. Assuming the plan works, Toyota’s premium brand won’t need to engage in any automotive genocide, eliminating sedans altogether. However, like any automaker, Lexus is still likely to transform its lineup to appease on-trend demands — which could include a station wagon.

“Unless we can really offer a sedan experience you cannot have with an SUV or crossover, I think the sedan may not be able to survive if it does not evolve,” Fukuichi told Automotive News at the Shanghai auto show in April. “At a certain point of time, the traditional, square, three-box sedan will go away.”

The new LC is the first model from the brand to take the philosophy and run with it. The LC is extremely low, uses a powerful V8 (or a futuristic six-cylinder hybrid), and possesses the highest torsional stiffness of any Lexus model in history. It’s also a highly stylized $92,975 sports car that’s about as practical as a glass-bottom shoe. Having been inside one, I can attest to the 2+2 interior’s supreme glory but it’s unserviceable for anything beyond a weekend romp for two moderately sized adults.

Thankfully, the 2018 LS sedan appears to have followed a very similar recipe without sacrificing familial viability. It’s lower and leaner than the outgoing LS and Lexus has intentionally bestowed it with a more unconventional fastback design. Imagine those ideas implemented in the brand’s smaller models with the possible addition of a station wagon and you begin to see the big picture.

“That [fastback design] reflects a change in the lifestyle and fashion of the typical driver of high-end sedans,” Fukuichi said. “They are becoming more casual and so are sedans.”

According to Auto News, that is a direct response to the popularity of Porsche’s Panamera. Although, Lexus might wait to see how the Sport Turismo sells before it drives into the market with a wagon variant of its flagship vehicle.

“Personally, I would like to have a Lexus wagon if we had enough resources,” he said. “Maybe not as tall as an SUV but not as short as a wagon. There could be some optimized packaging … If we’re going to do it, it can’t be just an ordinary station wagon.”

They already have those; they are called crossovers.

With sedans accounting for only 29 percent of Lexus’ sales within the United States, it’s difficult to envision a scenario where it didn’t murder off at least a few models for CUV replacements. The brand’s car sales dropped a full 35 percent during the start of 2017. Meanwhile, Lexus spent most of January scrambling to produce more SUVs after last December turned out to be their best sales month in history.

[Image: Lexus]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Speedlaw Speedlaw on May 01, 2017

    Americans were always sold that small is cheap and big is nice and luxury. Until the Japanese and Europeans showed that small could equal luxury, or at least "not junk", this worked. Still, despite incursion in the more well off areas, most folks still followed this. Like horsepower, size was something they could charge for. Want 10 inches more in the floorpan so your six foot kids can fit in the back seat ? $10k, even though the engine and pretty much every single part is the same as the smaller car. The minivan was the first to break that mold, and the SUV/CUV finally got you a "big" car for regular money. Now that size does not equal price nearly to the way it used to, why is anyone surprised that people buy the bigger vehicle for the same money ? Add to it the aging of the population, traffic and congestion (I like to sit up higher where I can see what is going on) and the choice isn't a LS v. CT6 or E class, it becomes Range Rover vs Q5 vs Escalade. As long as gas remains under $3 per gallon.......

  • Akatsuki Akatsuki on May 01, 2017

    Lexus just needs to get their act together - their product line is just not amazing overall - even as their driving dynamics improve. Cars -The IS has always been an almost ran. It would have done amazing if it had come over as an Altezza and cheaper. -The GS (and I own one) is great, but in a power hungry current times... well it is just not there. -The ES sells a lot of volume, but does nothing for the nameplate -The LS? Always great, perennially overlooked and derided. They need to step up their game here a lot I think to make it better than the competition in the ways that sell. -RC - an embarassment. Oddly bulbous, overweight and not nearly enough to make anyone buy it over a 4-series. -LC - looks hot as hell. It won't have enough power to make a dent in SL sales. SUVs -Where oh where is the three row RX? And the fact that it took this long to even get near to one should have every single product planner canned. - GX - hooray a big truck with absolutely no redeeming features for the CUV crowd. I assume it sells fine. - LX - real off-road capability being sold to a market that has no need for it. OMG, just build an CUV off the LS platform already that has an eq Where is the three row RX?

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