Lexus Teases Its New Flagship Sedan

5th Gen Lexus LS teaser (Credit: Lexus)

Lexus has been able to be a thorn in the side of the German big boys, and it’s looking to continue that streak. The 5th gen LS sedan is set to debut in Detroit this January. All we have for now is an interesting teaser.

For those who are little too young to remember, the LS was the Lexus which originally shocked the world back in 1989. It was at the Detroit Auto Show the car debuted, rocking the luxury vehicle world and encouraging people to build champagne towers on hoods like a bunch of hooligans. It was one hell of a way to launch a new brand.

This new image of the Lexus LS shows us a ghostly image of the front end, plus the GA-L rear-wheel-drive chassis already used on the LC 500. Of course, the weird Lexus spindle grille is there, grinning wide while flanked by angular, cartoon rabbit headlights. The engine’s conspicuously missing, so maybe there could be a revolutionary reveal in the works.

Lexus is saying the LS will have a “coupe-like silhouette” so rear headroom could be crap. Oh, and the LS will be more dynamic, because that’s always a good thing to tell everyone. We’ll see.

Even though Lexus is quite popular today, competition in the luxury market is fierce. BMW and Mercedes has been duking it out big time, Volvo is making aggressive moves upward, and new kid Genesis could be a big threat. To say Lexus has a lot riding on the new LS is a huge understatement.