Actually, Toyota split off the Lexus brand in Japan recently. I think they did that in Europe some time ago. I read Britts posting messages about Lexi, so I figure it must be a separate brand there. Personally I don't care. If it said "Toyota" instead of Lexus on our LS400, it would be just as good a car and I'd be just as happy with it. I don't even care about the dealership pampering buyers. Not my thing.
Edmunds says this about the next generation ES...
What We Know: The 2007 Lexus ES 330 will be fully redesigned, with a brand-new chassis, sheet metal, and a brand-new, more luxurious cabin than even that of the current version of this step-up sedan. As the upcoming 2007 Camry is expected to have been revised to look more like a contemporary Lexus, one can only guess at what Toyota has in store for the next-generation of its platform-mate, the ES 330. The two vehicles will undoubtedly share many of their components, though, and Toyota has even created a new global platform, the MC, in order to build these two vehicles, and others, on. The 2007 ES 330 is due out around roughly the same time as the 2007 Camry, in the spring of 2006. As is the case with the Camry, expect the hybrid ES 330 to make its debut some time after the standard version of the vehicle, probably some time in 2007.
So, the Camry and ES will still share a platform. I stand corrected.
- GRL