Sydney show: Buyers prefer Lexus GS hybrid

THE new Lexus GS430 V8 has become a victim of the petrol-electric GS450h hybrid's success, but Toyota's luxury brand will not make the same mistake with its forthcoming replacement for the LS sedan flagship.

Dubbed Australia's first hybrid luxury car when it was launched in May, the GS450h has proved a hit with the environmentally conscious well-heeled, but its $15,000-lower ($121,990) pricetag and 22 per cent peak power advantage has hurt sales of the V8-powered GS430 sedan. Overall, GS sales are down about three per cent year-on-year.

"The V8 is the one that's struggling versus the hybrid in terms of volume, simply because of the way the hybrid's been priced," according to Toyota’s product planning chief Doug Soden.

"The mid-segment of the luxury market is down versus the previous year and has been in decline for the past three years. But if you compare V8 GS sales versus E-class and 5 Series V8 sales there isn't much difference. They're all struggling in that segment," he said.

Lexus Australia executive director for sales and marketing, Alan Porich, was more candid. "It (the V8) should be doing better, we'd like it to do better, and that's the reason we're employed - to make sure cars are selling at the right rate," he said.

"So we've got a little bit of work to do particularly in the dearer models in the range, but we think over time we can correct that. The hybrid is selling really well – it's a standout performer. But the GS is not selling as well as we'd like in the upper models." Lexus is determined the same situation will not affect its redesigned LS sedan range, the new 4.6-litre V8-powered LS460 version of which was due to be launched Down Under this month but will now not arrive here until next June.

Left: GS450h.

The delay, which will see the short-wheelbase LS460 arrive here just a month before the long-wheelbase LS600hL, is due to a communication breakdown with the factory in Japan, which led to some high-tech features like air suspension being omitted from Australian cars.

"We had a very late spec that wasn't quite ready for Australia and we considered it important enough that we'd rather have the car right, so we agreed on a delay," Mr Porich said.

"We'd rather have the car right than not quite the right specification. We've already delayed the LS460, we've already got deposits, so we'd rather continue with that and the LS hybrid can hit the streets when it's available as well.

"We've been working hard to get air suspension for Australia. It required a little bit more development, took a little bit longer than expected.

"The situation with air suspension of course is that it's also attached to a number of other handling specifications so it didn't mean just giving up air suspension it meant giving up a number of other things that were just weren't prepared to do without. We're very pleased that the car will come out with all that equipment." When the new LS arrives here in mid-2007 it will feature the world's first eight-speed automatic transmission and the LS600hL will carry a higher sticker price than the LS460.

Lexus hopes to sell 180 examples of the 460 in the final six months of 2007, and expects to shift eight LS hybrids a month.

Further afield, a replacement for the Toyota LandCruiser-based LX470, based on next year’s redesigned 100-Series, will not appear here until 2008 – after which an all-new SC coupe-convertible and a production version of the LF-A supercar concept are also likely to appear.

Apart from showing the LS460, Lexus also used the Sydney motor show to reveal a bodykit for the IS sedan, which will become available as factory-fit accessory from 2007.