Lexus GS

Lexus GS
2012 Lexus GS 450h F Sport (Germany)
Overview
Manufacturer	Toyota
Also called	Toyota Aristo (Japan; 1991–2005)
Production	October 1991 – July 2005 (Toyota Aristo) February 1993 – August 2020[1] (Lexus GS)
Model years	1994–2020
Body and chassis
Class	Executive car (E)
Body style	4-door sedan
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive Front-engine, all-wheel-drive (except S160 model)
Related	Toyota Crown (1991–2011)

The Lexus GS (Japanese: レクサス・GS, Rekusasu GS) was an executive car (E-segment in Europe) manufactured and marketed by Lexus across four generations — launched in 1991 as the Toyota Aristo in Japan and as the Lexus GS for markets outside the Japanese market beginning in February 1993. It continued with the Toyota Aristo name for the Japanese market until January 2005.

Lexus marketed the GS as a performance sedan competing in the mid-luxury class, between its compact executive IS and large/flagship LS. The GS shared its chassis with one of Toyota's longest-running nameplates, the Toyota Crown premium sedans until 2011.

The GS featured six-cylinder engines and rear-wheel drive, with V8 engines offered for all generations. All-wheel drive and hybrid versions debuted in 2005. Previously, all-wheel drive versions were already made available in the Japanese-market S140 series Aristo. The first two generations had a Japanese market equivalent, the Toyota Aristo (aristo is Greek for "the best"), which was sold from 1991 until the Lexus marque's Japanese debut in 2005. Though largely identical in exterior and interior design, the GS and the Aristo differed in their engine and transmission combinations as well as equipment packages. The GS name stands for Grand Sedan.^[2] However, some Lexus importers use the backronymic name, Grand Sport.^[3]

The first generation Lexus GS began sales in the United States, Europe and selected Asian markets in 1993. It was originally introduced with an inline-six engine and exterior bodywork designed by Italdesign Giugiaro. The second generation model premiered in 1997, using a new platform,^[4] in-house styling, and adding a V8 version for the first time outside Japan. The third generation GS, which premiered globally for the 2006 model year, was produced in V6, V8, and hybrid versions, the latter known as the GS 450h. The third generation models were the first GS sedans to be badged as such in the Japanese market.

The fourth generation Lexus GS premiered in August 2011 at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where models introduced included the V6-powered GS 350, hybrid GS 450h, and performance-tuned F Sport variants. A lower-displacement V6 model, the GS 250, premiered at the Auto Guangzhou Exhibition in November 2011, targeted at Asian and European markets.^[5] In some markets such as North America and Asia, the GS shares the mid-size sedan category in the Lexus lineup with the front-wheel drive ES, serving as its rear-wheel-drive counterpart.^[6]

The GS was replaced in Europe by the Lexus ES from December 2018. The seventh generation ES is the first to be sold in Europe, replacing the GS in spite of being a front-wheel drive car.^[7] It went on sale from September 2018 in Russia, Turkey and other CIS markets and from December 2018 in Western and Central Europe.^[8] Production ended in August 2020.^[1]