BONDS73HRS

Looking at the sales of the IS 300 the car seems to have been dead for the past couple of years with the car selling at invoice prices or less even and saw that the car sold only 800 cars last month which is pretty bad. These car will probably get a remake soon though. A sickening interior made me buy the tsx

dnl2ba

Gee, that's a pretty convincing counter to the Lexus board post.

Were you raped by a Lexus when you were a child?

phile

The IS300 is getting redesigned soon. Rumor is that the LF-S concept shown in Tokyo will be the new IS, and not the new GS (which everyone thought it was, but we've already seen what the new GS will resemble).

jcg878

yes we have

bowersan

Hehehe.... I agree. I was at the NAIAS show last week, and that's all I could see... The rear cpillar is so thick, and the trunk deck is so small.. its disproportionate to the size (and shape) of the hood.

J.

dom

When the current IS came out it was touted as being as BMW fighter. I guess time and sales figures have proven otherwise. Although I kinda like the current IS I think Toyota make some mistakes with the cars styling and it was never really true competition for the 3 series as it can be seen as a ricer's ride and not as classy as the 3.

I'm willing to bet Toyota won't make the same mistake again. The new IS will be bigger, better styled and will have alot more power from its 3.3L V6. I'm betting at least 250/250. As long as its not seen as the ricemobile that the current IS can be seen as, it will be a winner, just like every other Lexus has been.

PS. Before Lexus owners and Gilbo start flaming, my comments don't mean that the TSX IS competition for the 3 series.

phile

I don't think it will use a V6. The GS and IS use the same inline 6 right now, and all the press releases say the new GS will sport a 245hp 3.0L but it doesn't say V6 or inline. I have a feeling it's an inline because otherwise why not just use the 3.3L V6 Toyota already has?

Mokos23

i really feel that nissan is flattered that lexus err i mean toyota used inspiration for the GS off the Maxima. i liked the IS, but those cleartails bothered me. also, what a ripoff, i saw a nice loaded new 04 IS that was $34K, which was the same price as the ES330, which was also fully loaded.

1SICKLEX

Here goes:
The IS 300 is based of the Toyota Altezza, which is a shortened GS chassis. The car has been out in Japan since 1997. We got it here in 2001. It's 2004. That this car is still competative says a lot. The sales are not there anymore, why? More competition. The new TL is out, there is a TSX getting buyers. The G35 sedan is new. The 3 is still considered by many the standard. There is a new A4, new Saab 9-3, new Volvo S-60 and new Caddy CTS. That is A LOT of new cars out since the IS came here first.

The IS did lower the Lexus age and brought tons of buyers to Lexus. It was not initially to be brought here, only after the success of the 2nd gen GS, did sporty and Lexus mix. The ES was marketed as sport/luxury but no one really believed that crap. So for 2001, they made the ES the boat it is, and the IS came over with it's young styling and polorizing interior. Lexus had 2 cars in the 30-40k range when everyone had 1.

The LF-S is the design study of what Lexus sedans will look like. So the next IS (to be next fall) and LS will look similar. Not sure of the engine now. THe new GS does have a 3.0 liter V-6, not the 3.3 in the Camry/RX, etc etc.

Another bad thing is mods. The current IS is loved by enthusiests for having the 2JZ engine. It is not commonplace to see turbo/supercharger ISs around. If they move to a V-6 (which they will), not sure how the aftermarket will respond.

With even more competition, the next IS has to be incredible. It will also come in (confirmed) wagon, coupe and convertible forms.

The IS 430, there is a very, very, very small chance this will be produced to attract some attention before the new model comes out.

See, no bashing, no flaming.

1SICKLEX

Dow Jones Business News
Toyota Mulls Ways to Drive Lexus Against BMW, Mercedes
Thursday January 15, 2:20 pm ET
By Norihiko Shirouzu, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal


DETROIT -- Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM - News) wants to expand its Lexus brand significantly by beefing up a sporty entry-level luxury model and possibly adding to its product line a couple of vehicles priced above $70,000 that would put Lexus in direct competition with DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSECX - News) Mercedes-Benz and BMW AG.
Denny Clements, head of the Lexus brand and a senior executive at Toyota's U.S. sales unit in Torrance, Calif., told The Wall Street Journal he couldn't be happier with the way his brand is performing. Lexus sold 259,755 vehicles last year, up 11% from 2002.

Mr. Clements is aiming to boost Lexus's annual sales to 350,000 vehicles within the five years, though its sales this year are likely to show only a modest increase at best.

Still, he said unleashing an assault on BMW's near monopoly on younger buyers with its 3-Series cars and Mercedes' equally strong grip on consumers buying luxury cars priced above $70,000 "should give us a huge opportunity to grow Lexus."

He noted Mercedes has a dozen model variants that are priced over $70,000, while Lexus has none. The brand's flagship car, the LS430 sedan, starts around $ 54,000. Mr. Clements said recent Lexus surveys have shown its customers are interested in buying higher-priced vehicles, and in some cases leaving Lexus to buy Mercedes cars. "So we are asking [Toyota's product planning office in Japan] for more product offerings at the higher end," he added.

Mr. Clements declined to be specific about what type of super-luxury vehicles he is looking for, but noted that among them are "a sedan" and "a sports car."

In the entry-level luxury segment -- which has been growing as vigorously as the segment for $70,000 or above luxury cars -- Mr. Clements said Lexus is looking to offer more body styles and other variants for the redesigned IS car in an effort to dislodge BMW's near monopoly on sporty, entry-level luxury-car buyers. Lexus hasn't said exactly when the redesign IS would arrive in dealer showrooms, but one Toyota official said it should come within the next two to three years.

Mr. Clements noted BMW sells about 10,000 3-Series cars a month, which he said are offered in several body styles, including convertible, and with powertrain and other options. "A half of those sales are coupes, and I don't even have an IS coupe in my lineup," he said.

Currently, Lexus offers two IS models -- a sedan and a hatchback. "We need for sure a coupe, a convertible and a sedan with multiple powertrain offerings," said Mr. Clements. He went on to say, "It's important for us to be competitive in the entry-level luxury segment" to capture those 30-something consumers who are buying BMWs. "Those are young professionals that are going to be luxury-car buyers for the rest of their lives."

-By Norihiko Shirouzu; The Wall Street Journal; 313-963-7810

Thrawn

Autofiend has a supposed image of the next IS that they posted some time ago along with rumors regarding its specs.

Personally, I like the look quite a bit. I like it enough that I'm willing to hold off on my next car purchase until I can get some concrete details and images on it, even if it only shares a passing resemblance to that image. Of course, I'll also be waiting to see what Acura does with the TSX before I buy anything. Actually, the TSX and the IS are the only two cars I have left on my list of potentials.

Oh, and the next GS has been confirmed as using a V6, not an inline.

ostrich

Oh lord! It looks like the Mazda 3 at the front with a bit of Cadillac thrown in at the rear half...

James

nope, still very well alive

s0y

yeah, I'm really sure that Lexus/Toyota saw the new maxima a few months back and said "This is it man, this is what we neeed!!!!" And then, had the design staff copy but not really copy the design, develop prototypes, then tooled up a whole production line in a matter of months. yeah, you're dead on man!

s0y

Hey man, this and variants have been around for a while... all are photoshops, unfortunately.

s0y

The new IS300 WILL use a v6, the inline is dead :'(

its probably for the best though. As great as the 2jzge block is, and despite its history, that bish gobbles gas.

Spartus

I actually like the IS300. The only thing I would add is the Lexus 4.3 V8 block or keep the inline 6 and add a twin turbo setup, just like the supra had before. This would make the IS in the top of its competition as far as performance goes. The only thing I would change is the Altezza's in the back as far as exterior styling is concerned.

phile

How do we know this?