The ES has grown in size for 2026 and is now a full-size sedan, larger than the original LS 400.Courtesy of manufacturer
When Lexus first launched in Canada in 1990, it fielded just two models, both sedans. One, the LS 400, was a veritable moonshot – a clean-sheet challenge to the full-size European luxury-sedan establishment that then defined the elite of mainstream automobility.
Tellingly, the LS 400 promptly triumphed in a 1990 Car and Driver comparison test that pitted it against the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series and Jaguar XJ, as well as an Audi V8, Cadillac Seville and Infiniti Q45.
The LS’s 1990 co-debutant was much less aspirational. The entry-level ES 250 was based on the Toyota Camry, with sheet metal from Camry’s Japanese-market sister cars. Prioritizing comfort over driving dynamics, it wasn’t the game-changer the LS was. Still, it sold well enough and went on to deliver the reliability that became a Lexus hallmark.
Lexus launched 35 years ago with a moonshot – a full-size prestige sedan that sent shock waves through the mostly European elite establishment.Courtesy of manufacturer
The LS's sedan sister car, the ES 250, was a more modest effort, but helped establish the brand's reliability as well as the pioneering dealership experience.Courtesy of manufacturer
Thirty-five years later, the Lexus lineup in Canada has expanded to 12 nameplates and 58 per cent of the vehicles the luxury brand sells in Canada are made in Canada. However, the LS and ES have dwindled to a fraction of total Lexus sales. The LS’s sales in particular have almost evaporated – just 28 units sold in 2025, compared with 1,236 GX SUVs and 716 LX SUVs. Industry-wide, luxury SUVs have ousted prestige sedans from the pinnacle of the automotive hierarchy.
Of course, the larger and more higher-end vehicles are also a relatively small part of the Lexus sales picture as those numbers above pale in comparison to sales of the made-in-Canada RX and NX which were 10,766 and 11,674 respectively for 2025.
Now, the diminished roles of the two original Lexus sedans will see them merge into one Lexus flagship sedan – the all-new 2026 ES, which arrives this spring. The LS itself will be honourably retired after a limited run of 2026 Heritage Edition LS 500 AWD models, of which only five are earmarked for Canada.
The current LS flagship sold only 28 copies in Canada in 2025, and 2026 will be its final model year, with just five units for Canada.Courtesy of manufacturer
In effect, the LX luxury SUV is now the brand's flagship. Even at a starting price in the six figures, Lexus sold 716 of them last year.Courtesy of manufacturer
Meanwhile, Lexus’s only other sedan, the compact IS, has not had a major redesign since its debut in 2013, but it gets another facelift for 2026 to carry it through at least one more model year. Just one model remains, IS 350 AWD, powered by a 311-horsepower 3.5-litre V6. Plans for the 2026 (or 2027?) UX, Lexus’s entry-level crossoverish hatchback, will be revealed in the coming weeks.
For the one-percenters who want an even higher-end vehicle, Lexus has created its new Century sub-brand to challenge the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley – although, as evinced by recent concept vehicles, not necessarily in the form of a traditional sedan. “We’re moving from luxury sedan to a different concept, of luxury space,” explains Lexus Canada director, Martin Gilbert.
Toyota Canada has yet to determine when or even if Century will come to Canada.
Either way, as the pinnacle of a corporate portfolio that also includes Toyota, GR and Daihatsu, Century frees up Lexus to focus on … well, almost everything else in the heart of the mainstream luxury market. As Gilbert explains, “The exclusivity that (Century) brings now provides Lexus with the freedom to … think independently and confidently, to be adventurous and innovative, (with) the explicit goal of helping guests discover a new luxury lifestyle.
“Since its creation, Lexus has been a brand that can set its mind to anything while remaining uniquely Lexus,” he added. “A brand strengthened by its variety.”
And that variety includes Lexus’s approach to electrification. Noting that 58 per cent of Lexus sales in Canada were electrified in 2025, Gilbert said that ratio will continue to grow. “We’re the leader with the multi pathway – hybrids, plug-in hybrids and BEVs. We need different solutions for different consumer needs and we’re going continue to adapt. The global vision is that our product needs to be more and more electrified.”
That starts with the 2026 ES, which, in its new role as de facto Lexus sedan flagship, had its first Canadian showing in Vancouver in early December. The occasion was an event celebrating Lexus’s 35th anniversary in Canada and coincided with a week in which Lexus Canada also cemented a new annual sales record.
In keeping with its new role, the 2026 ES has grown 16.5 centimetres in length to full-size-sedan dimensions – about 15 centimetres longer than the original LS400 and only 10 shorter than the current LS500. As well, it will offer for the first time in Canada an Executive VIP package. The combination of reclining, massaging, heated and cooled rear seats, with a passenger-side ottoman, is a level of luxury usually reserved for vehicles that come with a chauffeur.
Moreover, the ES’s traditional emphasis on pampering refinement will go next-level with powertrains that are all electrified – hybrid or full battery electric. The base gas-electric powertrain in the 350h AWD will be an evolution of the one in the current 300h, but with an additional electric motor at the rear to make it all-wheel drive.
The full BEV versions will be the 350e and 500e, the former with a single motor driving the front wheels, the latter with a motor at each end to achieve all-wheel drive. Lexus estimates a range of about 480 kilometres for the 350e, and cites for the 500e an output of 338 horsepower enabling acceleration to 100 kilometres an hour in 5.5 seconds.
Lexus says the ES’s exterior shape was inspired by the LF-ZC concept, and it’s the first vehicle to display the automaker’s new design language called Clean Tech x Elegance. Notable elements include a flowing, trunkless silhouette, a cabin that tapers boldly toward the rear, and “a new-generation spindle body, crafted to embody the ideals of electrification.”
Lexus describes the new ES interior as 'featuring an open, airy upper section with superior visibility, contrasted by a lower section that gently envelops the occupants.'Courtesy of manufacturer
Inside, an 80-millimetre wheelbase stretch should greatly enhance rear legroom, while higher seating positions improve entry and egress as well as sightlines from the driver’s seat. A 12.3-inch gauge cluster resides in an unusual “semi-heptagonal” display while a free-standing 14-inch touchscreen debuts Lexus’s latest multimedia interface.
And, of course, Lexus “guests” will continue to discover the ES through the elevated dealership experience that, 35 years ago, did as much to establish Lexus as did the excellence of the LS 400 itself. That experience continues to evolve, says Gilbert, noting that Lexus Canada’s dealer network has won J.D. Power awards for long-term customer service four years in a row. “Competitors still after 35 years are trying to catch up.”
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.