Nope. Lexus adaptive cruise does not function below 25km/h, can't bring the car to a stop, and it doesn't steer for you. The Mercedes system does all this and in general "interacts" with traffic much more smoothly. Volvo is good too (doesn't steer though).
I prefer to drive my car myself...but if that's what you see as a leap in "driving"...have at it.
And yes, the Lexus system does all of that EXCEPT steer (I know on the LS) It's called A-PCS. It even monitors the driver's head to see where they are looking. And the adaptive cruise operates from 0 to 200km/h.
Read up on A-PCS.
Again, no. A-PCS is an advanced form of collision avoidance/mitigation systems that have been around for years. Its the same thing as Mercedes Pre-Safe, Acura CMBS, etc. It is not a form of full autonomous cruise.
The actual Lexus version of that is called "all speed adaptive cruise" or something like that. I believe its only available on the US LS600...which is not exactly on a lot of people's shopping list. It is definitely not available on either the IS or the GS. (I'm willing to be wrong on this point, as it would bring those cars into consideration for me, but I'm 99% sure I'm right)
And it still doesn't steer like the MB or even the Acura system can.
See here, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUBIyrHnipgOr here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShYLRus6RTgAnd yes, I do see this as a leap in driving. 33km on the DVP (one way) in the evening takes well over an hour. That isn't really driving per se, its just getting through the conga line. If the computers can handle that then it
absolutely is a huge leap forward in quality of life. What's money for, anyways?