2016 Lexus IS200t Review

The 2016 Lexus IS200t launches straight into a burgeoning medium-luxury segment that is showing no signs of slowing down.

Lexus is adamant that, while the new IS might not be their most expensive vehicle, it is in fact a vital cog in the wheel of their model portfolio. “This is the front door to the upper-luxury market segments, a stepping stone,” said Sean Hanley Chief Executive, Lexus Australia.

“It’s a rapidly growing segment, and a good place to be with IS200t,” said Hanley. “This new IS200t means we are the equal leaders in torque delivery and a close second in the power stakes in the segment with this car.” To give you an idea of how popular this segment now is, there was a 60 per-cent increase in July this year, and year-on-year for August 2015, the category is up by 32 per-cent. As such, Lexus indicated to CarAdvice that it will be powering into the market as competitively as it can over the next 12-months.

“We see the most important factors being power and economy with high specifications,” said Hanley. “Paramount to Lexus is inbuilt specification, which removes the need for a long, expensive options list. In short, this is a well-specified entry-level luxury sedan.”

You can read our IS200t pricing and specification story here, but in short, IS200t Luxury starts from $57,500, F Sport from $65,500 and Sport Luxury rounds out the range from $76,500. There’s plenty of standard kit, sensibly priced options packages and all the safety tech you’d expect at this end of the market â€" without the price that is often associated with it.