Lexus LS

As Lexus LS which are luxury class sedans the brand Lexus from Toyota called.

The LS series was first introduced in October 1989 and sold first in Japan, the US and Switzerland, while in Japan (until the introduction of Lexus in Japan in 2006) not as a Lexus LS, but as Toyota Celsior ( 1989-2006) was marketed. From September 1990 the LS was also offered in Germany.

The subsequent model changes took place in November 1994, October 2000 and September 2006.

In Japan the LS 400 and LS 430 were offered as Toyota Celsior until the Lexus brand was introduced. The fourth generation of the LS 460 made its debut with the 8-speed automatic transmission and automatic parking aid.

Four generations have now been produced, all of which are equipped with a V8 engine and rear-wheel drive - a hybrid variant with all-wheel drive and an optional longer wheelbase has also been available since 2006. The LS 600h has been available since June 2007 . This is based on the LS 460, is the first hybrid vehicle in the premium class and has the first hybrid - V8 in the world.

The fifth generation was presented in January 2017 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and has been sold in Germany since January 2018. For the first time, the LS is not available with a V8 engine.

The development of the Lexus LS began in 1983 as the internal / secret Toyota project "F1". This project included a five-year plan with over $ 1 billion in development funds. The result was a newly developed V8 engine ( 1UZ platform ) based on IndyCar / Champ Car engines. There were also various luxury features. The result of the F1 project was intended as a product for the export markets from the start, which is why Lexus was founded as an independent brand. The LS 400 debuted successfully and was largely responsible for the successful establishment of the Lexus brand. According to an annual survey of buyers in the USA by JD Power and Associates' US, the LS series was the most reliable in its class from 1994–2009.

Every LS generation has been produced in the city of Tahara (Aichi) in Japan since the start of production.

Models of the series

construction time	model	image
10 / 1989-12 / 1994	UCF10 / UCF11
10 / 1994-10 / 2000	UCF20 / UCF21
10 / 2000-08 / 2006	UCF30 / UCF31
09/2006–01/2018	USF40 / USF41 / UVF45 / UVF6
since 01/2018	Lexus USF50

Web links

Commons : Lexus LS  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Lexus website, LS models