At the Tokyo motor show, Lexus pulled the wraps off a concept that feels at once familiar and daringly different — the new LS Coupé Concept, a sleek, high-riding four-door GT that reimagines what luxury means in a market where sedans are going the way of the fax machine.
Once the cornerstone of Lexus’s identity, the LS luxury saloon quietly bowed out earlier this year after a 35-year run that began in 1989 with the car that launched the brand itself. But Lexus clearly isn’t ready to let the LS nameplate retire to a museum display. Instead, it’s reviving it in unexpected ways — not just with this coupé, but also with a single-seat Micro LS and even a six-wheeled LS MPV concept. Call it an LS family reunion, if the family had collectively lost its mind in the best possible way.
Among the trio, the LS Coupé Concept looks the most ready to make the leap from design studio to showroom. Think of it as Lexus’s answer to the BMW XM, Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupé, or Porsche Cayenne Coupé — a rakish SUV with grand-touring flair and the proportions to match.
A Luxury SUV That Wants to Be a Driver’s Car
Lexus hasn’t given us any specs — no motor output, no range estimates, no zero-to-sixty times — but it has given us a mission statement. Ian Cartabiano, the head of Toyota’s California design studio, says the LS Coupé “lets you do it all, and do it all in style.” Translation: expect something that blends the comfort of an LS sedan with the engagement of a proper driver’s car.
The concept’s stance is pure power move: wide hips, a long hood, and a fastback profile that suggests performance more than practicality. Yet inside, Lexus is clearly chasing next-gen luxury.
Tech, Toys, and a Flying Camera
The cabin is dominated by three massive digital displays — two for the driver and one (which folds away) for the passenger. Lexus’s next-gen infotainment system lives here, along with a yoke-style steering wheel that hints the brand isn’t done refining its steer-by-wire tech from the RZ. The driver’s seat looks more Nürburgring than Nagoya, while in the back, passengers enjoy what Lexus claims is saloon-level space and comfort.
Rear occupants also get automatically deploying armrests, portrait-format screens built into the front seatbacks, and perhaps the most absurdly wonderful feature in any concept this year: a high-speed drone that deploys from the rear deck to follow the car and film your journey. Because if a luxury car does something amazing and no one captures it in 4K, did it really happen?
And instead of a conventional trunk lid, there’s a pull-out drawer for luggage — an idea so elegant and strange it almost feels like a concept from 2035, not 2025.
Under the Skin
If Lexus ever decides to greenlight this thing, the production version would likely ride on Toyota’s E-TNGA modular electric platform, the same bones that underpin the RZ. That would make it a close cousin to Lexus’s existing EV lineup — and potentially the brand’s electric counterpoint to the RX, the long-running, best-selling SUV that still defines Lexus’s modern success.
What It Means for Lexus
Whether or not the LS Coupé reaches production, it’s a signal that Lexus is ready to loosen its tie and experiment. The original LS rewrote the rules for luxury in 1989. This concept suggests Lexus might try to do it again — this time with a shape that fits the moment, a drivetrain that fits the future, and enough flair to make Stuttgart and Munich look over their shoulders.
Because when Lexus gets bold, interesting things tend to happen. And the LS Coupé Concept looks very interesting indeed.
Source: Lexus