A strange thing has happened in the Lexus lineup this year. The perennial bestseller among the brand’s traditional cars, the ES, fell back to a distant second. Taking over the top spot is the Lexus IS, now the oldest Lexus car still on sale, since its last complete redesign came for the 2017 model year, a year earlier than that of the LS. Even more interesting, is that the IS saw a big jump in sales over last year.
The Old Dog Earns New Sales
Now the IS isn’t exactly the same as it was when it hit the market about a decade ago. Lexus actually updated it with new styling and an upgraded infotainment screen for the 2026 model year, along with some minor chassis tweaks. Still, it’s mostly the same old sedan, and it’s not even available with the rumbly, rowdy V8-powered IS 500 F Sport anymore. Apparently pleny of people like some of the changes, or at least don’t mind them, as Lexus sold 2,959 IS sedans in July, a massive 94.8% increase compared with July last year. The total sales for the year has reached 17,030, 49.7% more than 2025’s sales through July, and a difference of nearly 6,000 cars.
2026 Lexus IS front 3/4 angle in grayLexus
The ES Is Having Growing Pains
The gains of the IS wouldn’t have been enough to top the ES last year, but this year is different. ES sales plummeted by 89.2% for July, down to just 377 cars. Total sales for the year were also way down. Lexus has only sold 4,273 ES sedans, an 81.2% drop from the 22,683 cars sold in 2025 through July.
Part of the reason for this decline could be a byproduct of the ES getting a complete redesign for 2026. Unlike its predecessor, the new ES is on a different platform than the Camry, and is now available only as a hybrid or a pure EV. It also dropped the V6 option, and it has a higher starting price by a few thousand dollars. It’s possible that the powertrain and price changes have put off buyers, but it could also be that Toyota is having some production issues, limiting supply. Production constraints are what led to the new RAV4 losing its crown as the best-selling car in America.
2026 Lexus ESIan Wright/CarBuzz/Valnet
Lexus Car Sales Are Bringing Down The Brand
The vast majority of Lexus sales are of SUVs, but the cars still count, and Lexus hasn’t sold many of them. The ES is the most significant drop for the brand’s cars, but the LS is down, too, and the remaining RC and LC stock is being sold off, so they are either level or dropping to 0. The gains made by IS aren’t enough to offset the losses, so the car side of Lexus is about 14,000 units behind 2025. Meanwhile, Lexus SUV sales were up overall, but only by around 4,000 compared to last year. So, Lexus as a whole is down by around 10,000 units over last year.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
The theme of many automakers’ sales this month has been that of the value of traditional cars, and this Lexus story adds to it. Even though the IS and ES aren’t the highest sellers for Lexus, they still represent large enough chunks that neglecting them can be detrimental, even with some SUV models improving. If Lexus can sort out the slow sales issue with the ES, it could potentially get back on track to matching last year’s sales, though it would require a significant upswing for the mid-sizer.
