There's nothing inside the ES to betray its Toyota Camry DNA. It looks and feels substantially larger than its more proletarian cousin, resulting in a significantly roomier car - particularly if you're travelling in the back.

Lexus ES buyers score a full suite of safety systems, as well as lots of standard equipment.

At a minimum this includes bi-LED headlights, alloy wheels, a 7.0-inch driver display, sat nav, active cruise control, dual-zone climate control, 10-speaker audio, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, digital radio and rain-sensing wipers.

The Lexus ES 200 will accelerate from 0-100km/h in around 12 seconds, while the 300h will go from standstill to 100km/h in 8.9 seconds, on the way to a 180km/h top speed.

The ES 250 is powered by a 2.5-litre inline four-cylinder pretrol engine producing 152kW/243Nm. The Lexus ES 300h uses a 2.5-litre Atkinson Cycle in-line four-cylinder petrol engine, delivering 131kW of power 221Nm of torque. This is a series/parallel full hybrid system, adding a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor making 88kW and 202Nm. Combined power output is 160kW. No torque maximum is stated.

The Lexus ES 200 offers an official combined fuel consumption average of 6.6L/100km. Fitted with a 60L tank, expect a real-world range of over 900km. The Lexus ES 300h's official average is 4.8L/100km. With a 50L tank, expect a real-world range of over 1040km.

If nothing else, the Lexus ES is all about the seats. Beautifully padded in all the right places, the front buckets provide practically infinite adjustment in most directions. Moving to the back seat area there's a sumptuously comfortable three-person bench experience.