I'm happy that it's not though. It's a breathe of fresh air from M-B to not try and make something look so overly aggressive. IMO it'll age well and the aggression is more in the stature than the gimmicks. The front is indeed soft, and I feel they did it so the car looks friendly to the core buyer demographic (females with children from my observations). I'm personally glad that they don't make it look all so goofy and aggressive, as I feel the actual presence does all the talking (it looks huge and brick-like). This Lexus is more generic style of car these days: Boring as hell core design, with the cheap frills like mismatched aggressive bumpers and lights to try and sell it as "aggressive".
The ML will age horribly because it has not even been a year and already looks bland and grossly outdated. It's such a yawn design.
I just don't agree. *For a Luxury SUV (which I find to be a poor segment, personally)*, I think it looks solid on the roads. I think it'll be a timeless Euro-SUV design. Slaughters the RX in looks and refined design, and is more character-full than an X5, IMO. If I was forced to buy an SUV, an ML with AMG Package would probably be the one I'd pick.
.... Well of course, that's actually the only SUV I can think of that I would be happy with in general, not "Just for an SUV". I wouldn't even want an ML63 unless I HAD to get one, but a Cayenne Turbo would probably get some passion from me. Still, a base Cayenne is incredibly characterless.
2013 Lexus RX 350 F Sport [w/video] http://www.autoblog.com/2012/08/29/2013-lexus-rx-350-f-sport-review-video/
So techincally Lexus should have been releasing an All New RX and LS this year and instead they just released heavily facelifted models. That's a pretty big risk, I wonder if it is a money issue.
This was a mid-cycle refresh for the RX, which was first introduced in 2009. Only the LS is due for a new generation, it came out in 2006 (2007?). I've read that Lexus is doing this so they can spread out their sedan releases. If Lexus launched a new generation LS this year, they would have renewed their entire sedan lineup in a year. That's too close together, so I think it's a good choice by them. The RX and LS refresh are quite an improvement above the usual Lexus "refreshes" and in-line with what the Germans do (actual redesign of front/rear and extensive interior overhaul). In this regard, they've improved and matched what they should have AT LEAST been doing with their refreshes.
^^^ That is what I said back in 2006-2007, that launching all new cars at the same time means they will all age at the same time. Finally they get that. No matter how the Lexus fans try to avoid it, the fact is that Lexus sales were dropping before the disaster last year, and that was due to a stale lineup. M
Yup, it's their own fault. And then it was exacerbated by the very minimal mid-cycle refreshes. I think finally Lexus is stepping up in this regard.
