Toyota drops in China, Canada, The United States, Japan and (almost certainly) Europe, too. You’d think good news would be scarce. And you’re right, it is! But wait, there’s one!
Bloomberg reports that because Lexus made sales gains (mainly through incentives) in October, Lexus is now back in contention to keep its title of “best selling luxury brand in the United States”.
Earlier in the year, there was a real possibility that it would be a 2 horse race, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. But because of the good October Lexus had, it’s now a 3 horse race.
Like I mentioned earlier, a key reason behind this sales growth is heavy discounting. In October, Lexus spent $2,152 per vehicle. Compare that to a year earlier, when Lexus spent only $923 per vehicle.
Even BMW was surprised at Lexus’ comeback. “Toyota has been much more aggressive than they’ve ever been,” said Jim O’Donnell, President of BMW’s North America, “We’ve not got Lexus joining the fray where they’ve always stood on the sideline and sort of watched.” In the month of October, Lexus sold 21,091 units, Mercedes-Benz sold 18,351 and BMW sold 19,272. This puts year to date sales at Lexus: 183,529, Mercedes-Benz: 178,080 and BMW: 176,736. Looks like this one is going down to the wire. See you at the end of December!
In the month of October, Lexus sold 183,529 units, Mercedes-Benz sold 178,080 and BMW sold 176,736.
A record month for all of them!
Whoops! These are the dangers of writing when you’re half asleep. Damn these time differences!
Duly corrected and updated. Thank you.
FWIW, in Baltimore’s and Philly’s most affluent neighborhoods, These three do indeed far outnumber Chevy, Ford, and Toyota…
Oh dear. The MIGHTY Euro brands are coming after Lexus ‘at home’ and all they can do is discount…..
In the realm of the high-end, general perception has it that Merc is king. The 3 series on lease is good for young women out of college. But when it comes to actually throwing down scarce dollars, most Americans raised on Toyota, and not wanting anything too questionable, will buy a Lexus. Good for them, but I’d be a bit embarrassed driving a car with the same name as a stripper.
Good for them, but I’d be a bit embarrassed driving a car with the same name as a stripper.
Mercedes?
And that is why you drive a BMW, not something named after the single mom working nights at the ‘Vu.
Mercedes is the house cleaner you don’t pay taxes on.
As you can see, the attributes of the cars and the girls are completely reversed. Whereas the domestic is very bland to look at, but quite efficient and generally represents good value, her dancer counterpart is temperamental, high maintenance, and prone to rapid depreciation. Just the opposite of their namesake automobile brands.
Looks whos the fastest growing car co in North America:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/11/03/by-the-numbers-october-2010-trick-or-treat-edition/
Be scared Lexus, JLR is coming for you.
You mock but yes the Euro luxury brands are mighty compared to Lexus. Lexus is irrelevant in Europe and in the UK have been forced to become a niche player through selling hybrid models only. BMW, Audi and Mercedes all outsell Lexus on a worldwide basis and Lexus is now under seige in its only main market, the USA. They are obviously desperate if they have more than doubled incentives in one year.
Hmmn. Isn’t this the classic Detroit 3 Road to Perdition?
Correction:
This puts year to date LONG-TERM RENTALS at Lexus: 183,529, Mercedes-Benz: 178,080 and BMW: 176,736.
This is actually a very salient point: many (most?) of these cars are leased, and most of those leases are heavily incentivized.
One of the reasons Acura does so poorly is because they don’t (or haven’t, historically) whore themselves out via lease deals the way BMW (for example) does. You’d need your head examined if you bought or financed a new luxury car.
psar…
Please elaborate a little more on this point.
Would it matter if there was zero rate over 60 months?
I know dealers don’t negotiate much when this is offered, but IF you can get a decent price, would purchasing a new at 0% be thoughtful.
I never really felt good about leasing. I tend to love the cars and want to keep or pass on.
With 0% financing, you are likely to pay about the same since the final price is likely to be higher. Probably better getting a cash price and financing it through a credit union with a low rate.
Would it matter if there was zero rate over 60 months?
Yes, because you wouldn’t be tying up tens (hundreds?) of thousands of dollars in a rapidly depreciating asset. No matter how much you get for paying cash, you’ll pay far more in depreciation and you’ll have tied up a lot of cash in the process.
You are right, though, that my comment applies more to leases than financing.
25,962: that’s combined sales of GM’s ‘premium’ car divisions (Buick and Cadillac) last month.
With Mercury’s demise, GM is now unique in the US market in offering two distinct premium brands side by side – one more targeted towards Lexus in Buick, the other more targeted to the Germans in Cadillac. But they cross-compete as well, which is why I combine them.
Despite their branding issues, Cadillac and Buick collectively have a decisive sales edge over the three horses listed above. Combine YTD sales – 244,975 – with the fact both divisions are ending the year strong, and the race is already over by a few lengths.
The real challenge for GM is, how do they get ONE of their brands to compete on the same level as Lexus, Merc, and BMW?
We’re seeing this already with the renewed push at Buick with their smaller sedans like the new Regal, along with a somewhat broader market with the new GS. With that a full product line (completed by the Regal GSX sport sedan, a range-topping Park Avenue / Invicta, an Equinox-based GX-fighter, and a Voltec Electra), Buick should have no problem competing with BMW, Lexus and Mercedes on volume.
Pretty sad when you consider that Buick used to sell ~1 million cars/year (quite a while ago) and didn’t turn off a lot of buyers younger than age 80.
Did Buick ever sell a million a year? I don’t know how many it will sell in China right now, but a million in the US seems very high for what Buick could have ever done.
I will say that Buick is now having a much broader appeal of buyers with its new vehicles. I think many more people are interested in them now thanks to the Enclave, LaCrosse and Regal.
Steven02: In 1984, Buick sales peaked at 940,000 units.
Of the contenders, who makes the most average profit per vehicle? That’s the real number worth knowing.
That’s easy.
Lexus.
Their volume models (ES & GX) are reskinned Camrys, so the platform is effectively “free”, and those sales are practically pure gravy.
The GX? Did you mean another model?
I was recently invited to participate in a panel discussion of BMW vs. Mercedes vs. Audi vs. Lexus. Before the discussion, they kept the sponsor of the clinic a secret and only at the end asked what BMW could do to convince you to choose a BMW as your next vehicle.
There were 16 people on the panel. There were only 2 of us who actually gave a damn about cars and wanted to purchase the car that best suited our individual preferences. We were the only 2 buyers (as opposed to lessees) in the room.
The other 14 people on the panel just wanted the lowest lease payment they could get and didn’t care which one of the 4 offered it. The prestige of the badge at the lowest price was all they cared about.
The comment from AKITADOG just brought back the memories of how I had to spend 2 hours with those 14 morons.
Just goes to show you that only 1 in 8 buyers really care about cars :)
This is why appliance vehicles sell so well.