Lexus GS gets a facelift – but the UK won’t get the new GS 200t

The mid-range Lexus GS has been given a facelift for 2016 – revealed at Pebble Beach – but the new GS 200t petrol turbo won’t be on offer in the UK.

It’s four years since the Lexus GS debuted at Pebble Beach, so it’s appropriate that Lexus has used this year’s Pebble Beach event to reveal a facelift for the GS, with cosmetic and technology tweaks and a new engine option.

The cosmetic tweaks for the GS follow the usual facelift pattern, so the GS gets a new full-length grill design, tweaks to the bumpers front and back, new LED headlights and new tail lights too. There are, as you would expect, new colours to choose from too and new designs for the alloys.

On the technology front, the new GS now gets the Lexus Safety System+ as standard, which incorporates a whole heap of clever safety stuff including Lane Keep Assist, Adaptive High beam, Traffic Sign Recognition, Active Cruise, Pre-Crash Safety System and Pedestrian Detection.

Under the bonnet, Lexus has also added the option of the new 2.0 litre petrol turbo with 238bhp in the new GS 200t – the same engine recently introduced in the new NX, RX, IS and RC – which comes with an eight-speed auto box and official economy of almost 40mpg.

But for some reason, Lexus are choosing to stick with their all hybrid offerings in the UK, so UK buyers will only have the choice of the 300h or 450h GS, and not the GS 200t. Which seems a bit short-sighted.