With the recent facelift of the Lexus LS500(h), not much seems to have changed. If you look closely, however, you will see that almost the entire facade is new. Time for an investigation.
There is something strange about the Lexus facelifts: the brand changes a lot, but it is hardly noticeable. The reason is probably that the basic design language of the brand does not change much. Although the existing design is drastically smoothed out, the original design is damaged as little as possible.
That was previously the case with the Lexus RX, for example, and it now also applies to the LS. For example, the biggest eye-catcher of the front, the enormous grille, can remain. The fencing, now in a darker shade, is surrounded by news, because the rest of the front is secretly completely different.
Foothills
Take the headlights. The original version of the current LS, which dates from 2017, is characterized in that respect by enormous extensions under the light units, naturally crammed with LED technology. These swipes are secretly one with the upper part and produce a Z-shaped whole.
The bumper formed neatly on the original to that lamp and especially to the grille. A large fold from the lower outer corner to the narrowest part of the grille served as a canopy for the air intakes on either side of the grille that define the family face.
Floor
In the facelift version presented in 2020, the striking spur was resolutely cut from the headlamp unit. There is still a small ‘floor’ under the part in which the main lighting is housed, but it adapts neatly to the design of the latter. The L-shaped daytime running LED was more or less allowed to remain, but in a tighter and better integrated form.
The opening placed underneath, which is secretly closed, was also given a tighter shape. The striking fold has been smoothed out and the ‘inlet’ itself is now also neatly horizontal at the top.
From chrome to black
Also with the LS, the facelift is mainly concentrated on the front. Yet the car can also be recognized from the rear. The striking horizontal strip that splits the rear lights is now in black and no longer chrome-plated. The main change in the interior is a new and much more pleasant infotainment screen, but today it’s all about the appearance. Which edition of the latest Lexus LS do you prefer?