Associate Editor Reese Counts gives an overview of the 2019 Lexus ES' new exterior design.
TranscriptREESE COUNTS: Hi, everybody, Reese Counts with Autoblog. Today, I'm here with the new 2019 Lexus ES 300h. This is the hybrid version of the ES. It's a car that's now based on the Avalon and Camry on the TNGA platform. This is not the same hybrid system that we found in the LC that actually won Autoblog's Technology of the Year, though it is still a very good system. I mean, Toyota and Lexus have been doing hybrid systems for years. And, you know, for the most part on average, they're the best out there.
Now, the design, of course, is typical Lexus with the spindle grille. I didn't love it for a long time. But with every iteration that's coming out, the LC, the LS, a little bit with the RC, I'm actually kind of starting to like it, though this color is honestly pretty terrible. I-- I can't think of a color that screams, like, retired old man more than this kind of grayish, silverish, like, gold color.
Other elements, though, I do like, I like the kind of flat chrome on the wheels. I like the chrome around the mirrors and the windows. And it's just really nice shapes. It's clean. And like the interior, it feels Japanese. It feels luxurious and looks nice without, like, copying some of the German designs that you might see with some other luxury cars.
Around back, again, it's cribbing other Lexus shapes, but I think that's a good thing. I like the tail lights. And if you come up, it doesn't have quite the [INAUDIBLE] design, but it does look like 3D, and I-- it just gives it some depth. And, I don't know, some cool things. I-- this move to LED lighting has allowed automakers to do some interesting shapes, and it's more than just, I don't know, flat or a wide red light. And I kind of like it.
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