Beijing show: Lexus shows off new ES

LEXUS has issued the first full image of its all-new ES sedan, revealing a close styling resemblance to the new LS limo that is now being rolled into showrooms around the world.

Due to be put before the public gaze at next week’s Beijing motor show, the seventh-generation ES has a similar coupe-like roof line, three-LED headlamp cluster, spindle grille and door-mounted external mirrors as the LS.

But while the LS has a cross-hatched mesh effect on the grille, the ES has ribs running from the edge of the bonnet to splitter, fanning out as the grille gets wider towards the bottom.

The new ES is likely to go on sale in Japan later this year before arriving in Australia in the first quarter of 2019.

No powertrain details were released in the short, three-paragraph press release with the photo of the front three-quarters of the car, but a blue-hued Lexus badge and hybrid badge on the rear door confirm that a petrol-electric powertrain will be on offer.

The new front-wheel drive ES is believed to be new from the ground up. It will sit on the latest Toyota New Global Architecture platform (TNGA).

As before, the ES will share many of its underpinnings with the Toyota Camry, but get more luxurious finishes and more sophisticated technologies.

The current ES comes with a choice of 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric hybrid and 3.5-litre V6 petrol powertrains.

The hybrid is likely to be upgraded with Toyota’s newly released Dynamic Force Engine that is about to be spread across the Toyota family line-up.

In hybrid form, the powertrain is said to have a world-beating thermal efficiency of 41 per cent.

A new direct-shift continuously variable transmission (CVT) is also in the wings.

The new LS has also debuted with an all-new 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 that might be on the cards for the ES, although probably not with the full 310kW of power and 600Nm of torque.