Luxury carmakers are set into a strict hierarchy. There are the Germans at the top, and then brands from every other country – the U.S., Japan, Sweden, etc. – below. It had been that way forever until the Lexus LS came along nearly 30 years ago, which threatened to roust Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi from their perches.

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⠀2018 Lexus LS 500 | Why Buy?

2018 Lexus LS Pricing Undercuts Germans, Starts At $75,000

Five generations of the LS have followed, their sole purpose being to compete with the most elite full-size luxury sedans in the world. The latest, represented by this 2018 Lexus LS 500 F Sport, doesn’t manage to upset the order of things the same way the first-generation LS did back in the late ‘80s. Far from it, actually.