Lexus Division today unveiled its next-generation GS 350 sport sedan, revealing the sheet-metal and interior design cues that will carry across the brand for the next several years. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
@WiL

The 2013 GS, which goes on sale in early 2012, will have only a V-6 or V-6 hybrid powertrain. There will not be a V-8 version available.

Lexus has offered a V-8 version on the previous two generations of the GS, but it only represented about 10 percent of all model sales.

The GS sedan has been seen as bland and bloated next to the BMW 5 series, Mercedes E class and Audi A6.

U.S. sales of the current generation model peaked at 27,390 units in 2006, and tapered off to 7,059 last year.

Lexus is counting on the new GS to help make up ground lost this year to Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the U.S. market.

Lexus, the top-selling luxury brand in the United States for 11 straight years, is expected to lose the crown to one of the two German rivals in 2011.

Inventory shortages resulting from the March earthquake in Japan have hurt Lexus’ U.S. sales, which have dropped 19 percent to 102,549 this year through July.

The strength of the Japanese yen has made it even more difficult for Lexus to competitively price models built in Japan and exported.
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