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Lexus is killing off the slow-selling GS luxury sedan

You know that 2020 Lexus GS 350 F Sport Black Line Special Edition we told you about yesterday? As it turns out, it’ll be the last gasp for the midsize luxury sedan, as Lexus plans to cut the nameplate from its lineup. Lexus announced in Japan that it will discontinue the entire remaining GS lineup, including the 467-horsepower GS F performance sedan, after production there ends in August. It also follows the brandÂ’s decision last year to not offer the entry-level GS 300 in the U.S. for 2020. In a statement sent to Autoblog, Lexus said, “We are constantly evaluating model mixes throughout our lineup. In the declining sedan segment, GS family has represented a small amount of sales in the last few years.” Lexus first launched the GS in 1993 and last gave it full update for its fourth generation in 2012, designating it as the first model to get the signature, polarizing spindle grille. Rumors of its eventual demise have persisted for years, with Lexus sitting with a whopping six sedans and coupes at a time when all momentum is on the side of crossovers and SUVs. Last year, the GS represented just 4% of overall Lexus sales in the car segment. Through the first three months of 2020, Lexus sold just 624 GS sedans, a decline of more than 34% year over year. Full-year sales in 2019 were down a whopping 48.8%, at just 3,378. The model saw its best sales year in 2015, when it sold 23,117. The Black Line Special Edition, meanwhile, is limited to 200 examples and are available starting this summer. Pricing isnÂ’t yet available, but in Japan, where theyÂ’re calling it the “Eternal Touring” special edition and offering it in a blacked-out color scheme, Lexus is releasing it on June 1 starting at the equivalent of about $66,080. Related Video:

A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

Are you the 2016 Lexus LX 570? [w/video]

What we appear to have here is our first glimpse at the updated 2016 Lexus LX 570. The luxury counterpart to the Toyota Land Cruiser, the Lexus LX first arrived in 1996. It entered its current third generation in 2007 and underwent a facelift in 2012. That would make it prime for replacement, but if this leaked image is anything to go by, Lexus has apparently opted to give it another refresh to keep it relevant for a little while longer. Reportedly leaked by Japanese magazine Best Car (and coming to us in the YouTube video below through Arabic publication Almuraba), the image shows what looks to be an updated version of the existing LX. The shape looks largely the same, but with a pronounced take on the brand's signature spindle grille dominating an even more aggressive face, flanked by sharper headlights and boomerang-shaped DLRs. The inset image ostensibly shows a revised version of the existing model's interior, with what appears to be a slightly larger infotainment display in the center of the dashboard. Given the subtle visual enhancements, it does not appear likely that Lexus has changed much under the hood, where the current model (in North America at least) packs a 5.7-liter V8, driving 383 horsepower and 403 pound-feet of torque through a six-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels. That giant engine could probably benefit from some fuel-saving measures, but we'll have to wait for the full reveal to find out one way or another. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.