Lexus soups-up seventh-generation ES sedan

Sedans and any configuration of a “car” might be a tough sell at the moment, but Toyota's Lexus division certainly wasn't going to let that stop it from launching a new, seventh generation of the ES midsize sedan, which by a large margin just happens to be the brand's best-selling car (51,398 last year in a shrinking U.S. market for sedan bodystyles). The ES typically accounts for nearly half of Lexus' total car sales.

Considering that kind of sales critical mass, it's tough to say the ES has been injured by its reputation as being the softer “cruiser” of the Lexus car lineup, but the company seems to continually strive to inject more sporting character into the midsize sedan. Such is the case with the new 2019 ES-there are two variants, the ES350 with a 3.5-L V6 and the ES300h hybrid that went on sale in the U.S. in September-although refinement and isolation remain at the expected high levels.