Lexus will unveil a facelifted version of its ES model at this year’s Shanghai Motor Show. The brand’s updated executive saloon will feature some styling tweaks to help keep it competitive with the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5 Series.
Lexus hasn’t yet released a detailed breakdown of its updates for the ES but, judging by its teasers, the revisions will be minor. Up front, new headlamps are certain to appear, while a reworked version of the current car’s grille and front bumper are possibilities.
The rest of the car’s styling will remain largely untouched, though. Lexus’s teaser video provides a glimpse at the new car’s rear end which, apart from a slightly reworked tail-light signature, looks identical to the current car’s.
Inside, we expect it’ll be the same story. The current car’s eight-inch infotainment system and 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster will likely be transferred onto the new model wholesale, with the only differences being a few trim and upholstery revisions.
Technical specifications are also yet to be confirmed, but we expect the facelifted saloon will be offered with the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-hybrid powertrain as the current car. The system has a combined output of 160kW and offers a 0-100km/h time of 8.9 seconds.
Lexus also says that its hybrid powertrain will return between 21.4 and 22.6km/L in the current ES, while producing as little as 119g/km of CO2.
The updated ES should arrive later this year and, given the modest nature of Lexus’s updates, we expect prices will be comparable with the outgoing model’s, starting from around $63,000 .
Luke Wilkinson