From a sales perspective, the first-generation GS 450h was a disappointment. While we liked it quite a bit when we test-drove it a couple years ago, Lexus just hasn’t been able to move the metal. Introduced to much fanfare in 2006 as a 2007 model, the GS was Lexus’ second hybrid and the first rear-wheel-drive hybrid on the market. Lexus touted it as a performance sedan, even as Toyota was heavily marketing its hybrids as fuel sippers. Whether consumers were confused or not, they never took to the hybrid GS. Sales peaked at just below 1,800 in that first year and have gone down in each successive year. In 2010, Lexus sold barely 300 GS hybrids, roughly four percent of total GS sales, which were about 7,000.

The cognitive dissonance presented by Lexus hybrids has been an issue since the brand launched its first, the 2006 RX 400h SUV. Only marginally more powerful than the standard RX, its improvement in fuel economy was similarly slight at launch. The LS 600hL – the brand’s halo car before the LFA sports car came along – is a six-figure, 20-mile-per-gallon hybrid marketed as having V12 performance with V8 fuel economy, the rough equivalent of ordering a Diet Coke with your Super Size Big Mac Extra Value Meal. The “Lexus Prius” HS 250h, with neither particularly good fuel economy (35 mpg combined) nor any sporting aspirations, has been a critical and sales disaster and is rumored to be on the chopping block. While Toyota’s simple, “better mileage” definition of its hybrids is clear, Lexus has combined green machine and muscle car in varying doses, such that you never quite know what you’ll be getting with a gas-electric Lexus.

While the new GS 450h continues to pay homage to two different masters, Lexus has, from the outset, done a better job at splitting the difference. With an entirely new V6 engine and revised hybrid system, the 2013 model has remarkably improved fuel economy, while sacrificing just a bit on the raw performance side. According to Lexus, the new model will be rated at 31 mpg combined (29/34 city/highway), an improvement of eight miles per gallon over the old 2011 model. Do the math and that’s a 35-percent improvement, which seems like a pretty good tradeoff for less than half a second in 0-60 time. By Lexus’ stopwatch, the 2013 GS 450h does 0-60 miles per hour in 5.6 seconds, compared to 5.2 seconds for the old GS hybrid.

Source: AutoBlog

Source: Lexus

Certainly, Lexus has loaded up the GS with a whole bag of new tricks, but its core is largely carryover. The optional V8 engine is gone – nobody bought them, apparently. So the 3.5-liter V6 remains, improved to make it a bit more powerful. It’s now rated at 306 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque, an increase of just three horses and three lb-ft. However, Lexus estimates a fuel economy improvement of two miles per gallon on the highway and one combined when compared to the 2011 GS. The new car’s 0-60 mile-per-hour time remains at 5.7 seconds. The 2013 GS uses the same six-speed, sequential-shift automatic, but with paddle shifters in addition to a standard shift lever. Shifting with the paddles is fast and satisfying, and we like that they are small and well positioned unobtrusively behind the wheel.

Much like the other 250-badged vehicles, the GS will be powered by a 2.5-liter V6 with direct-injection, producing 207 horsepower and 187 pound-feet of torque, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Those aren’t exactly breathtaking power figures by any means, but it allows the GS 250 to compete with the base four-cylinder BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class models offered in Europe. Running to 60 miles per hour will take 8.6 seconds on its way to a top speed of 142 mph.

Source: Lexus

It’s not often that a mainstream automaker sets its sights on building a world-class supercar, but a few standout examples come to mind: cars like the Acura NSX, the Ford GT, the Dodge Viper, and the Lexus LFA.

In addition to F Sport, the 2012 CT 200h features what the Japanese automaker calls a “Vehicle Proximity Notification System,” which is Lexus speak for the almost-mandated pedestrian warning system that will soon be required on all hybrid and electric vehicles.

Source: Lexus

Source: Automotive News

Still, we’ll never complain at the chance to watch the LFA turn its high-dollar wheels in anger. Odds are we’ll get another look at the car and find out what the MT gurus thought soon enough. Check out the video clip for yourself in all of its high-definition glory.

Lexus takes to the track as the UK’s first full-production LFA supercar lines up with the high-performance IS F saloon at VMAX200, Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, May 2011.

For photos click here.