01
Origins
The S5 of 2012 gave Taiwan's own marque a conventional heart: a compact-executive saloon with the brand's signature electronics suite and turbocharged fours, developed with chassis input from established European consultancies and aimed at both Taiwanese buyers and the mainland market through the Dongfeng-Yulon venture. It sold respectably at home, where patriotic purchase met genuine equipment value, while mainland traction proved harder against domestic Chinese competition evolving at speed. Facelifts and a GT derivative extended its life through the decade. The S5's fortunes traced Luxgen's structural challenge: a small-market national champion caught between Japanese quality reputations above and Chinese cost-scale below — well-armed in features, outnumbered everywhere else. The car deserved a larger home market; the home market could not be enlarged by engineering.
Luxgen 5 sedan pre-facelift front 8.18.18 · Kevauto · CC BY-SA 4.0
