If you’re a fan of the Lexus IS and are disappointed that the series is no longer available in Australia, then there is bright beam at the end of the tunnel, with Lexus revealing that a replacement of sorts is in the product-planning pipeline for 2025.
Better still, unlike the recently-discontinued fourth-generation model that was an albeit thorough rehash of its 2013 predecessor, the successor is expected to be reinvented as a purely battery electric vehicle.
Targeting the likes of the Tesla Model 3, Polestar 2 and imminent Hyundai Ioniq 6 among a whole host of other sedan-shaped EVs that we’re yet to see, the next IS is expected to be the production realisation of the Lexus Electrified Sedan concept unveiled back in December.
Believed to be based on the advanced modular platform underpinning the new Toyota bZX4 SUV, the medium-sized electric sports sedan will be part of Toyota’s $100 billion investment in EVs, that will see 30 new EVs launched by 2030.
According to Lexus Australia chief executive, John Pappas, discussions are already well underway about what’s coming in the pipeline to replace the once-popular medium-sized sedan range in this country.
“Australians have loved the IS,” he told the Australian media at the launch of the all-new, second-generation Lexus NX medium SUV in Melbourne earlier this month. “And we saw really good growth last year even with IS, so IS for us still important.
“But we are working very tirelessly with Lexus international with the future product portfolio… and we’ve got nothing to announce about the replacement of IS specifically.
“IS was a very good car for us, and customers loved it. So, we will continue to look from a product planning perspective, together with our product planners in terms of what that’s going to look like. I can’t confirm. But it’s very exciting for us.”
Judging from the Lexus Electrified Sedan concept, the future IS will really play up its sports sedan aspirations, with the massive wheel arches, muscular haunches, sloping roofline, bonnet nostrils and chiselled nose redolent of past Japanese icons such as the incredible Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R V-spec.
Reports out of Japan suggest that the 2025 IS EV will follow the Tesla template in offering both single-motor rear-drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive options, as Lexus attempts to reel in the unprecedented success of the Model 3. The latter’s status as history’s best-selling EV yet is all the more remarkable considering that sedans are out of fashion in favour of SUVs and crossovers.
Speaking of which, the next IS will follow up from the Lexus RZ EV SUV that will be revealed in production form in the second half of this year, and is slated for Australian release either next year or in 2024, production and other global production constraints permitting.
With the IS long being one of the most youthful models in Lexus’ line-up – as well as one of the most evocative and exciting (LFA aside) with versions such as the BMW M3-baiting IS F sports sedan – it is clear that Toyota’s luxury brand does not want to squander the hard-won reputation of Japan’s 3 Series alternative. 2025 cannot come soon enough.
In the meantime, Mr Pappas added that the ES will step up for buyers wanting a three-box Lexus sedan, even if its front-wheel-drive configuration is the polar opposite of what the IS has stood for over the past 23 years.
“From a transition perspective, IS is a sporty sedan,” he said. “For example, the ES is a luxury sedan but we do have the F Sport, so we will see some of those sporty IS buyers going into (that).”
As reported previously, the existing IS range was discontinued at the end of 2021 in Australia, along with various other models including Lexus’ own RC coupe and CT hybrid hatchback, due to their inability to meet strict new safety regulations that came into effect last November, but are yet to be implemented elsewhere globally.
More specifically, ADR (Australia Design Rule) 85/00, covers a new pole-side crash test that these ageing Lexus models would have struggled with to meet future homologation requirements.
In other markets, the current IS continues, and is expected to live on until the EV replacement surfaces sometime by or in 2025.
Watch this space!
Keyword: An electric car worth lusting over? Coming Lexus IS replacement could be like the lovechild of a Nissan Skyline GT-S and Tesla Model 3