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On July 26, Lexus ES 200 went on sale at a price of 299900 yuan. It is understood that after the launch of the new car, it replaced the excellent version of ES200 and became the entry model of Lexus ES. As a reference, the previous entry-level version of ES 200 is priced at 296900 yuan.

In terms of appearance, the new car continues to adopt the Lexus family design style, with a spindle-shaped grille on the front face, chrome-plated interior decoration, sharp-shaped headlamp groups on both sides, daytime driving lights and adaptive near and far lights. The overall recognition is extremely high.

On the side of the body, the body lines are smooth, and the window lines are made of silver chrome plated strips to enhance the sense of luxury. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new car are 4975/1866/1447mm, wheelbase 2870mm, positioning medium and large sedan. In the rear part, the new car uses the same sharp taillight shape, and a silver strip is used in the middle to improve the recognition.

In the interior part, the new car continues the current model design style, with a 12.3-inch suspended central control screen and a 7-inch LCD dashboard, and retains physical keys without losing the overall sense of luxury. In terms of power, the new car is equipped with a 2.0L naturally aspirated engine with a maximum power of 127hp and a peak torque of 206Nm. The transmission system matches the CVT continuously variable transmission.

As a medium and large car model of Lexus, Lexus ES mainly competes with Cadillac CT6, Jaguar XFL, Xilai ET7, polar krypton 001 and other models in the car market. This new car is an entry-level work of the series. By comparison, the new car has mainly upgraded its configuration, adding front seat ventilation, rear windshield electric sunshade and on-board wireless charging, while the power continues to carry 2.0L naturally aspirated engine. It remains to be seen whether the car can inject new vitality into Lexus.

Lexus is a luxury brand of Toyota Group, founded in 1983. As a second-tier luxury brand, Lexus has always been in the forefront in terms of brand awareness and praise, but it has not yet achieved domestic production in the domestic market, mainly in the form of imports. According to the latest data from the Federation of passengers, Lexus imported 84800 vehicles in the first half of 2024, up 20 per cent from a year earlier. It should be noted that prior to this, Lexus sales in China showed a decline. Lexus sold 176000 vehicles in China in 2022, down 22.5 per cent from a year earlier, the first decline since the brand entered the Chinese market, while cumulative sales in 2023 were 181400, up only 3 per cent from a year earlier, according to the data.

Today, Lexus is obviously less competitive in fuel models than it used to be, and it is difficult to compete with new brands, coupled with its relatively slow layout in the field of electrification, and with the rise of domestic independent brands and new forces, new energy vehicle brands are growing rapidly, squeezing the market share of luxury brands, including Lexus, in this context, Lexus is also having a hard time in the domestic market.

A few days ago, the media reported that under the premise of building an independent factory in China, Lexus will take the lead in the production of a new hybrid version of the UX and a new pure electric model, which will be sold in China as well as in overseas markets such as Japan. However, at that time, Toyota China and Lexus China responded to reporters about the news that they would be the first to produce two new energy products in China. "rumors, no comment." Prior to this, it was rumored that Toyota was in talks with Shanghai authorities about the possibility of building a wholly-owned factory.

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