The future of the Lexus IS
I ran across this article that touches on the future (or lack thereof) of the Lexus IS. I'm not sure that the IS's production will actually end later this year, as this article states. I've also read that the IS will continue on as an EV-only sedan. Regardless, the IS has had a reasonably good run over the past 25 years. It was introduced in the US in 2000. The 2nd generation model (2006-2013) can probably be considered the most successful of 3 generations, selling between 33,000 and 50,000 annually in the US. I personally own a 3rd generation IS (2014 IS350) and find it to be a great overall car. Introduced to compete with the likes of the BMW 3-series, Mercedes C-class and Audi A4/S4, the IS never quite met its ambitions in the broader automotive landscape. However, I think it is an underrated car in the industry, with great reliability and nice combination of comfort & RWD driving dynamics. The latest version of the IS is the IS500 Ultimate Edition. Only available as an automatic but with a great V8 engine. https://carbuzz.com/lexus-is-render-theottle/
Tom
6/30/20251 min read