Facelifted Lexus LS here in early 2021

A facelifted Lexus LS flagship limousine will arrive in Australia in early 2021, just in time to spoil the party for the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-class.

We’ve previously gone through the changes being made to the Lexus LS here, none of which are earth-shattering in themselves but add up to a substantial update for the fifth-generation model first seen here in late 2017.

For haters of the Lexus remote touch control toggle (many of us), one piece of good news is the LS now employs a touch-screen for the first time. Yes!

OK, that’s not groundbreaking, but it’s one new feature that will reduce plenty of frustration for drivers.

Not that there will be that many of them – drivers that is. Only 36 LS were sold in Australia in 2019, compared to 209 examples of the outgoing S-Class and 130 BMW 7 Series cars. The Mercedes-AMG GT sedan and BMW 6 Series GT also outsold the Lexus.

Lexus Australia isn’t talking about pricing or range structure changes yet, but for future reference there are two models – the 310kW turbo-petrol V6-powered LS 500 and the 264kW naturally-aspirated V6 petrol-electric hybrid LS 500h.

Both are offered in F Sport and Sports Luxury trims priced in the $190,000 bracket plus on-road costs.

There’s also the 200K-plus Inspiration spec but good luck finding one of them.

Lexus says both rear-wheel drive powertrains will provide better response and less noise in updated form.

The 2021 Lexus LS 500 will deliver more torque sooner and benefits from retuning of its 10-speed auto for a wider acceleration range and quicker shifts, says Lexus.

The revised LS 500h gets more low-down battery assistance for quicker acceleration. No performance times are provided to verify those claims.

Cabin quietness – never an LS or Lexus issue – is further aided by lowering maximum engine speed during the take-off phase, the introduction of new active noise cancelation and sound enhancement measures, revised engine mount internals and suspension modifications.

Changes to the suspension also aid handling and ride. They include more rigid front and rear stabiliser bars and a newly developed solenoid for the standard adaptive variable suspension that reduces damping force and reduced stiffness of the run-flat tyres.

Lexus says all this is part of its Lexus Driving Signature initiative “that applies detailed tuning and component upgrades to deliver a new standard of vehicle control, balance and driver confidence”.

The 2021 Lexus LS also introduces another term we won’t remember – Lexus Teammate. This is a family of driver assist technologies such as keeping the vehicle in its lane, maintaining vehicle-to-vehicle distance, lane splits, changing lanes and overtaking other vehicles, when driving on vehicle-only expressways or roadways – with the driver freed from operation of the accelerator, brakes and steering.

This stuff is for Japan only at the moment.

Beyond that there are some exterior changes led by compact new Bladescan high-beam headlights that can isolate oncoming traffic to avoid blinding drivers. The sub-radiator grilles are also now squared off and positioned to the outside of the massive spindle grille.

The grille mesh is now a dark metallic colour, while the F Sport is distinguished by the garnish for the sub-radiator grilles wrapping around to the sides, and the adoption of a dedicated colour for the spindle grille and 20-inch wheels.

Inside the cabin, Lexus extols the LS’ new seats and details some new interior trims that sound very nice, one of them inspired by the ‘path of moonlight’.

More prosaically, the 12.3-inch touch-screen (yay) has been repositioned and the Australian-spec LS will get a digital rear-view mirror.