2013 Lexus GS – Is it What Lexus Needs?

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance show in Monterey, California is starting tomorrow,will be unveiled in public for the first time at the show. Press materials have appeared online in advance of this event. comes at a pivotal point in Lexus history, when public relations issues have plagued the company (unintended acceleration), as well as a Japanese tsunami and earthquake. On top of that, Lexus modelshave failed to connect with consumers who are increasingly looking for more engaging offerings.That has all culminated to the point of Lexus losing top billing in the United States luxury manufacturersales race. That race will be lost by a large margin. It is against this backdrop that Lexus is introducing theLet’s take a look and see if it will fare better than Lexus’ previous effort.

If you remember, the previouswas supposed to make a big splash in the segment as well It failed to do thatshows off a new evolution of the L-Finesse styling language, one that is meant to be moreengaging and distinctive.Concept that preceded thecertainly was bold, but thetonesthings down a bit for production.Not a whole lot of new design ground is broken, and the centerpiece of the car is Lexus’ new grille design. It certainly is a more imposing face than we’ve seen usually from Lexus designersdoubt has been toned down from the concept. There are Infiniti-like themes in the design, and the greenhouse is pretty upright. There are a few unique elements though, such as the door-mounted mirror.Overall, it isn’t quite as dynamic or engaging as we had hoped. though. For instance, how does it compareto the redesigned Audi A6 and BMW 5-Series? Those are this car’s biggest competition. No doubt this caris a dramatic change versus its predecessor, and one for the better. We’ll have to wait to see it in person tomake a final judgement. 
Look inside, and you’ll see something nothing short of extremely impressive. The design, the materials, everything is far improved over the previous generation car. The orientation switches from a vertical center stack to a more BMW-like horizontal layout. Vents show influence from the as well as the new steeringwheel design. An analogue clock, formed form ingot, serves as a centerpiece.Housed in the center stack is a 12.3-inch screen, the largest in the industry. It offers vehicle information andsplit-screen viewing for the driver and passengerlighting is used extensively throughout the interiorAnd, check out the seats! They look extremely comfortabledebuts a new technology calledwhich uses occupant detection technology to direct air fromsystem directly to theoccupants.Curiously enough, we’re not seeing any details about the car’s power train. We expect them to be forthcoming. Until we hear morecheck out the car’s in our full-gallery below, then let us know what you think in the comments section.