After what seemed like a barrage of leaks last week, the second facelift for the seventh-generation Lexus ES has finally been revealed at Auto Guangzhou in China. The Japanese executive sedan receives several far-reaching aesthetic and technology upgrades inside and out but retains the same engines as before.
On the outside, the ES gains the “seamless” grille first seen on the RX, transitioning from body colour to an open grille through a series of octagonal inserts. This is flanked by revised headlight internals with distinctive dual-L lighting signatures, along with subtly re-profiled air inlets. The double-L graphic is repeated in the taillights that also gain a full-width light bar, while the Lexus script replaces the company’s “L” logo on the boot lid.
Inside, the centre stack is all new, freeing up space for a touchscreen that has grown from 12.3 to 14 inches across. The Lexus Interface infotainment system, already introduced in 2022 (and which jettisons the awful Remote Touch touchpad), now gains dual rotary dials for controlling the air conditioning and other functions, first seen on the second-gen NX.
This has necessitated the redesign of the centre air vents and the lower half of the dashboard. The rest of the cabin is unchanged save for a new gearlever, which Lexus says is more in tune with the tastes of younger Chinese customers.
As before, you still get features such as a seven-inch digital instrument display, walnut wood or bamboo decor, semi-aniline leather-wrapped powered seats with memory, heating and ventilation, rear seat heating, a panoramic glass sunroof, active noise cancellation, triple-zone Lexus Climate Concierge air con, Qi wireless charging and a 17-speaker Mark Levinson sound system.
The Lexus Safety System suite of driver assists, including autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control with stop and go and curve speed reduction, lane centring assist, evasive steering assist, blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert, also come standard – as do no less than ten airbags.
Mechanically, the ES remains identical to before. Two variants are offered in China – the ES200 is powered by a 2.0 litre M20A-FKS naturally-aspirated and direct-injected four-cylinder engine that produces 173 PS at 6,600 rpm and 206 Nm of torque from 4,600 to 5,500 rpm. All that is sent to the front wheels through a Direct Shift CVT.
The ES300h, meanwhile, receives a larger 2.5 litre A25B-FXS Atkinson-cycle mill churning out 178 PS at 5,700 rpm and 221 Nm from 3,600 to 5,200 rpm. This is paired to a 120 PS/202 Nm pair of electric motors and an eCVT for a total system output of 218 PS. So equipped, it gets from zero to 100 km/h 8.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 209 km/h.
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