In the early days of Toyota’s luxury brand, Lexus – think back about 20 years – the automaker was criticized for essentially imitating established German and American brands. Fast forward to today and it becomes obvious that Lexus succeeded by targeting individual competitor models, not imitating them, to create a luxury-laden Japanese offering with more content and refinement for less money. The formula paid off, sending rivals scrambling to, well, imitate Lexus. It’s easy to see the parallels between Lexus’ lineup and those offered by BMW and Mercedes-Benz: The LS 460 squares off against the 7-Series and the S-Class; the GS does battle with the 5-Series and the E-Class; and the IS fights for market share with the 3-Series and the C-Class. Ads by Google Çîëîòûå Íîâèíêè Îáíîâèëñÿ Àññîðòèìåíò! Èçûñêàííûå Óêðàøåíèÿ èç Çîëîòà gold.ua rent luxury cars the best service in Ispain ferraris ranger rover, maseratis good price www.ronycars.com

Then there’s the ES 350, Lexus’ second-best seller behind the runaway success RX. Lambasted by enthusiasts as a gussied up Camry – especially in its earliest iterations – the ES stands in a class of its own by offering GS-style space with the emphasis on luxury, not sport. Obviously, with 64,000 sold last year –more than any single model from Mercedes-Benz – the ES has resonated with shoppers.

• What is it?
• What’s it up against?
• How does it look?
• And the inside?
• But does it go?
• Leftlane’s bottom line