Lexus drops LS from UK line-up after 35 years on sale

The Lexus LS, the first car launched by the Japanese brand here 35 years ago, has been dropped from the UK line-up.

The decision follows a sustained period of poor sales of the hybrid V6-powered saloon, with 39 sold since the turn of the decade – including just three last year. This means the ES is the only Lexus saloon still offered in the UK as new.

Homologation and legislation issues are other reasons the LS has been dropped, Lexus confirmed to Autocar. A spokesperson added that the popularity of the new LM luxury MPV – which is in the same segment as the LS – also contributed to the decision. The saloon continues to be sold in other European markets and can still be bought from stock in the UK.

Before going off sale, the LS range started from £101,000, rising to £128,000 in top-rung Takumi guise. Every LS was powered by a hybrid set-up comprising a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine, two electric motors and a lithium ion battery. This combined for 354bhp and a top-end 0-62mph time (when four-wheel drive was optioned) of 5.4sec.

Lexus’s decision brings to an end a lineage that began in the UK three and a half decades ago.

The first-generation LS 400 (pictured above) arrived in the UK in 1990, just after it was launched in the US - the key market for the brand. Lexus’s first model was used to position Toyota’s offshoot as a maker of refined luxury vehicles that could take on Europe’s and America’s elite – and for a cheaper starting price.

Since then, a further four generations have followed in the UK – the final, badged LS 500, being launched in 2017 and subsequently updated in 2020. The brand’s UK line-up now comprises the LBX, UX, NX, RZ, RX, ES and LM.