I agree to some extent, but on paper a S450 wouldn't have been all that competitive with the LS460/L. If they would have brought over the S450 to compete with its 335hp V8 against the LS460's 380hp V8 they would have lost as many sales as they would have gained, between it and the S550 I seriously doubt they would have sold more S-Class units than they already have.

Some people IMO would look at the S450 and LS460L and decide that the Lexus provides "more" for the money and not bothered looking at the S550 which can cost way more than the LS460L. The S450 wouldn't have won all the comparison test with the LS460L either. I think making the S550 the price/point of entry for the S-Class took guts and was the right thing to do. IMO for every sale MB would have gained with the S450 they would have lost one or two more for the S550. Keeping the S550 as the entry into the S-Class forces one to either cheap out and get a SWB LS460 which is anywhere from 15-20K less (no way MB is going to compete with that) or a lightly optioned LS460L, because when you piles everything on a LS460L you can get within 10-12K of a loaded S550 and the the Lexus doesn't look like a bargain anymore.....and then...people would buy the Benz. Not to mention that is much better for MB ($$$) to sell more loaded S550s.

That said, now as the S-Class' sales start to slow and the facelift is pending, we'll see the S450 for model year 2010, but hopefully with more than 335hp with direct-injection and some other tricks.

Sure people don't race these cars...we know...but hp sells if only on paper. I just don't think a 335hp S450 would have been a great idea when a 380hp LS460L would cost less.

Mercedes likely pulled the S450 from the U.S. market at the last minute because of this because if you remember all the press and preview articles for the W221 talked about the S450 and the S550 equally, both of the coming to the U.S. All of a sudden the S450 was never mentioned again.

In the past Lexus has never increased power as much as they did from LS430 (290hp) to the LS460 (380hp). From 1990-2001 they only increased hp from the original 250hp to 290hp. I don't think anyone expected them to show up for 2007 with 380hp.

M