Bmw is the new top-selling luxury brand in the U.S.! Overtakes Lexus!

Actually this is the third month in a row that BMW has remained ahead of Lexus. Once they went ahead, they haven't looked back as Lexus disappears in the rear view mirror.

their incentive has remained ahead of lexus for decades and never looked back too.

According to Edmunds.com, "combined incentives spending for domestic manufacturers averaged $3,766 per vehicle sold in May 2009, down from $3,990 in April 2009. From April 2009 to May 2009, European automakers increased incentives spending by $214 to $3,823 per vehicle sold; Japanese automakers increased incentives spending by $171 to $1,907 per vehicle sold – a record high; and Korean automakers decreased incentives spending by $533 to $2,894 per vehicle sold. "

ghosthunter:
Your argument has little traction since you are quoting regions (Europe, America, etc.) instead of individual firms.

Mercedes-Benz spent the most for incentives, $6,069 according to Edmunds.com

Let the feeding frenzy begin...

ghosthunter:

the japanese makers already price in discounts to their MSRPs. so what you have not accounted for is the massive price premium charged by european marques. for example, the S-class runs 30-40% more than the LS. a couple thousand dollars in incentives doesn't even begin to bridge the gap.

another example, the 3-series runs about $10k more than an IS when similarly equipped with available options. again, even if your numbers were correct, they wouldn't make a difference.

I bet we'll see some people from Lexus loose their jobs

It's lose, not loose. Gosh, I don't know how some people function in society.

"dependability and enduring quality" !???

LMAO! talk about spin! lexus and toyota OWN dependability and enduring quality.

dependability and enduring quality are where the germans FALL FLAT on their ass. the main reason they haven't suffered as much in this recession as the asian brands, is because their brand loyalists are
ON
A
warranty
TREADMILL.

it costs so much to keep their heaps running once the warranties run out, they GOTTA trade and get a new car.

in the CR "Used cars to avoid" listings, there are SIX lines listing various bmw models, and TEN lines of MB models. with about 4-5 models PER LINE.

there is not a SINGLE model, much less line, listed for lexus.

5 to 1 you didn't finish elementary school.A year has 12 months,Bundy.

"...the German manufacturer beat it by a small margin of about 5,500 units for the first five months of this year."


5,500 is a small margin? You're kidding, right? That's a lot.

Well, yeah that's a small margin. It averages out to about 1000 cars a month for the first five months. That could easily be erased if the new Lexus dedicated Hybrid sells over 2000 per month from here on out.

But I for one am happy to see BMW in the lead. Lexus has become a bit smug in recent years.

The 5,500 unit difference in sales is not correct.
BMW sold 76,819 through the month of May. Lexus sold 73,186.

way to go BIMMER it was just a matter of time. I see bimmers out here like I used to see hondas when i was growing up.

Pretty impressive.

Good job BMW, but continue making models which made you so popular and keep going in the right way. I don't think upcoming 5 GT, X1, Mini SUV...etc are very right.

JUGNU

i agree......I am still waiting to see the article that they are making an 8 series again but i wont hold my breath!!!!!!!!

Totally agreed.
Better get extended warranty if you want to keep it.

so let me see if I understand correctly... you are basing the reliability of three models of cars, and the brand as a whole, on your one car that had problems? That seems fair. I guess by that same logic then my 535, by nature of it having never had any problems, means BMW's are all completely trouble free.

Every car company has cars that get bought back as lemons. That's kind of why the lemon laws exist.

LOL!

i wonder how many lemons that bmw had to buy back CONTRIBUTED to their "impressive" sales figures!?

a certain combo phone/answering machine i bought some years back, was taken back for replacement THREE times. (i only paid once of course.)

multiplied by other buyers/returns, the production figure for that model must've been IMPRESSIVE. UNTIL they subtracted the returns! LOL!

I could also add some comment on BMW'sreliability: Just found out the windshield fluid problem is really because pump gone bad. And, the sterring fluid pump went bad also 3 days ago. This is a 325 driven by my GF, 65K miles so far.

You did. Let's move on now.

Great Job, but what happened to the exclusivity argument and that Americans have no taste and that's why they bought Lexus?

Damn your continued excellent use of logic 43EL!!!

Autospies has little use for that sort of thing.

You should expect to be banned soon :)

Not a surprise. As I have mentioned before on these pages, the typical Lexus customer is one who is trying to move up from Toyota/Honda/Nissan and in a down economy, they may not have the financial staying power of the typical BMW buyer. However, the same is true on the upside, so look for Lexus sales to rebound strongly and (re)overtake BMW as soon as the economy starts to recover.

I'm sorry,i bought a beautiful 535 bm,I must say that it's the nicest car that i ever owned.After 3 months of ownership,i'm taken a customer to a business trip,the car won't start,i had to use my secretary's car which is a 99 pathfinder.I don't want to elaborate all the problems that i have with that vehicle.Are u willing to buy it from me,i live in New Jersey,take my payment over and give me $25,000.00 because i have a down of $10,000.00+ my trade in that 14,000.00.I want to cut my losses,we'll work it in a way that i lose $5,000.00.

After driving the IS-F and M6 back to back I can see why. I have no idea how lexus can get away with charging 60K for that car. I wanted to love it and hate the BMW but nobody in thier right mind would say that the IS-F is a better car. Better on gas and reliability but that's about it. Nothing about the IS-F felt expensive or luxurious.

thats because the M6 is in a different league

The IS-F competes against the M3, not the M6.

TYPO.. I meant M3

well ill have to applaud them. though their incentives like .9% on 3 and 5 series models are really helping them. Guess we will have to wait and see when the RXH, ISC, and HS come out this year

no worries. all of those lexus models are niche vehicles. that's like saying the 5-series GT, X6 and M3 convertible are going to drive BMW sales. not gonna happen.

With the ISC coming in on average $9k cheaper than the BMW, the RX450H with every dealer having a list of customer's for it, and the HS250H, it is going to be very interesting at the end of the year. I wonder what all the BMW fans will say then if/when they fall to 2nd or 3rd place? I'm sure they will have one stupid excuse after the other....

Herro. Your credibility on this forum goes down a notch every time you call someone "idiot". Do you have anything constructive to say?

Just trying to keep you and Herro from getting carried away. Remember - it's "justacar"!

GODS SPEED BMW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes thats right no other Luxury car maker has incentives on their cars now, except for Acura Audi, Cadillac,Infinit,Lexus,Mecedes Benz,etc...

If you don't have incentive in the economy, well you're just dumb. The name of the game is to sell cars.

Toyota=GM
Lexus=Cadillac

bitter are you?

You know, you sure spend a lot of time digging up useless info on a car brand you so passionately despise. We all know you hate BMW. Okay, we get it. Move ON! BMW's just a car brand. It's just a machine. You talk as if it's your spouse.

But that's with $4,000-$5,500 due at signing. If you want $0 down, the monthly payment will likely be for like $689-$889 per month.

Hey, everybody gets to share the spot light every once and a while. BMW is a very cool brand and should share the spot lights with Lexy. So, enjoy while it's lasting because big Lexys got some seriouly cool machines in the works. "Love those new stellar IS250Cs/IS350Cs".

anybody who would use the term 'big Lexy' wouldn't know cool if they were knee deep in snow. cornball.

Pushrod,
It's 1:30 in the morning and i just logged in just to give you a thumbs up. hilarious. lol.

I'm sure the HS250h will make up the difference. It's almost cheating though since it is such an entry level luxury car (although it has a nice nav interface and HUD).

Nobody cares except for little beenie fans.

Well that must mean there are more BMW fans than any other Luxury make.

yeah, they better be #1 in sales they're giving them away with near 0% rates. People buy Lexus... BMW is a "lease and return"

BMW's are for Broke Middleclass Wankers, they can't afford Lexus.

really? people can't afford lexus despite the fact that they're priced FAR below mercedes and bmw? that's interesting logic.

FYI: more than 60% of all luxury cars are leased.

Actually, Cadillac/Buick outsold both with 78,732 sales thru May. :)

Go GM, baby!!

I dont know about other dealers and cities, but here in birmingham its cheaper to lease an IS than a 3

Good job Bimmer! Lexus...theres always next year

What has allowed this to happen is Infiniti and Hyundai chipping away at Lexus' sales/image. They're like that 3rd party candidate that flies under the radar.

Lexus is trying so hard to chase after BMW, M-B, and Audi, but they forget about those (truer) competitors in their back yard. It's fun to compare them, but I know very few, in all honesty, who cross-shop Euro brands with Asian brands. Lexus better get back to basics and quit wasting their time with IS-Fs and LF-As.

"dependability and enduring quality" !???

LMAO! talk about spin! lexus and toyota OWN dependability and enduring quality.

dependability and enduring quality are where the germans FALL FLAT on their ass. the main reason they haven't suffered as much in this recession as the asian brands, is because their brand loyalists are
ON
A
warranty
TREADMILL.

it costs so much to keep their heaps running once the warranties run out, they GOTTA trade and get a new car.

in the CR "Used cars to avoid" listings, there are SIX lines listing various bmw models, and TEN lines of MB models. with about 4-5 models PER LINE.

there is not a SINGLE model, much less line, listed for lexus.

and there is all of ONE toyota model. i'd buy a used toyota before i EVEN CONSIDER any mb or bmw that is out of warranty. and i'd even hesitate on a NEW bmw or mb, as i tend to keep my cars long after the warranties expire.

i could afford a lexus if i WANTED one. but i am quite satisfied instead with two toyotas (plus a third "classic" awaiting restoration) and a honda motorcycle.

the toyotas, 6 and 15 years old, have both had ZERO repair costs. only expenses have been normal maintenance and replacement of ordinary wear and tear items.
the newer toyota only just got the "biggest" W&T item replaced: front disc pads. (at LESS cost than tires and wipers w&t replacement costs to date.)

so i am one of the POTENTIAL lexus buyers who DID NOT buy this year.

in saved car payments, both toyotas have PAID FOR THEMSELVES, several times over in the case of the '94 truck.

there are likely COUNTLESS other potential lexus buyers likewise saving their money, simply because they can, NOT being on warranty treadmills.

BMW "free" maintenance is the biggest scam. Not only is the cost already built into MSRP, but all you get is 2 oil changes and 1 "inspection" probably only worth $200-500 max.

before BMW offered free maintenance, you couldn't bring your car into stealerships often enough, once "fee" maintenance was introduced, suprise! they revise the "schedule"... now you only need oil changes every 15,000 miles!, brake fluid and coolants now last twice as long, diff oil is trans oil is "lifetime" fill.

all designed to get you hooked and hide the cost of ownership, once the warranty is over... well, brace yourself :)

The free maintenance is built in to the price of the car. And they didn't change their service intervals when they introduced free maintenance. My e46's(99 and 04) had the same intervals as the e90's.

And that's part of what makes you an idiot. Both of those facts undeniably result in more sales. Free maintenance results in higher resale values. For example, whereas people may be less inclined to spend $150 get the 7.5 quarts of full synthetic oil changed in their 3 Series, they'll quite likely do it when it's free. Same with all other routine maintenance other than tires, of course.

"The free maintenance is built in to the price of the car. And they didn't change their service intervals when they introduced free maintenance. My e46's(99 and 04) had the same intervals as the e90's."

No, BMWNA began offering no charge scheduled maintenance in 1996, but to qualify you had to lease their vehicles through BMWFS.

"Both of those facts undeniably result in more sales."

Correct, it's just one of many marketing gimmicks from BMW, hide the real cost of ownership.

"Free maintenance results in higher resale values."

Wrong, BMW does that all by themselves with inflated residuals.

"less inclined to spend $150 get the 7.5 quarts of full synthetic oil changed in their 3 Series"

Perhaps, but this again reinforces BMW is a "lease and return", it's all about lining BMW pockets with perpetual income stream through lease payments from clueless sheep, they know once they have you hooked (like a smart drug dealer) on "supposed" low cost of ownership, you'll come back again and again.

"Same with all other routine maintenance other than tires, of course."

ah, yes the tires, BMW offers no spares (at savings of $50 to BMW) so you can spend thousands replacing run-flats... look up "bmw run flat class action" you'll get the idea.

It's not that BMW "passed" Lexus in sales. It's that while BMW is doing horrible in sales, Lexus is doing even worse! Nothing to be proud of.

see my comments above. bmw owners/lessees are on WARRANTY TREADMILLS.

lexus owners have at least a 10-15 year option on WHEN to get a new car. they DON'T CARE about warranties, 'cuz their cars just don't break. each year they keep their car after the payment book is done, they SAVE more money.

lexus may not make as much money and annual sales, but they build up tremendous goodwill and an ever larger, loyal customer base. just as the toyota brand has done for decades now.

you mean of course Toyota right, lets just remember the hash lesson GM is learning because of badge branding

still bitter huu?

too bad bmw stills sells cars at a HUGE premium price to lexus.

EVERYONE offers incentives right now. IS lease specials in the $300s are running on television all over california right now.

Whatever the horse-race now, BMW is in a weaker position, going forward.

Lexus can share development costs over a range of models with Toyota, something that neither BMW nor Mercedes can do. Both have tried, and failed, to address this problem, BMW with Rover Group, and Mercedes, with their botched acquisition of Chrysler.

Without some kind of mass-market partner, it's hard to see how those two companies will survive.

Which is sad, not a Lexus fan at all.

and that's why lexus has a weaker brand and sells at a significant discount to competitive cars.

consumers don't pay top dollar for super-sized versions of economy products.

When I think of the brand BMW, I think WMB (WATCH MY BACK).

After my 1998 3 series convertible needed all of the lifters replaced after 42K miles and they didn't do "service with a smile" but with insult after insult, after keeping my car for over three weeks. I traded it in on a Honda element in 2003 and cooled off for awhile. I really had hoped I just had had an isolated bad experience.

So, in 2006, I leased another 3 series convertible. This time, it was the finance department that reached new heights of customer mistreatment. Two weeks after contract, the finance manager tried to coerce me into signing a "new contract" after they'd made a mistake when writing the first one. Their mistake, not mine. If I have buyer's remorse, I can't back out, but they can? I thought it was resolved after many phone calls and letters only to be thirty months into my lease and have them change the payment on me, WITHOUT notifying me. "An internal audit" showed they had me living in the wrong county. Well, I hadn't moved...guess what - their same original error and again, it's my problem. (And, that's one of the bad things about electronic payment through the bank - I didn't catch it until the second month and had I not - I guess it's my credit that's messed up...again, not their problem! (HENCE, WATCH MY BACK!)

And, of course, the pre-inspection on vehicle at end-of-lease was fine only to have "damage" three weeks later, but of course, if I buy a new one, the dealership will absorb the cost. It hurts, having your arm twisted so many times.

Then, the "notice and invoice" mailed to me showed "remaining payments due" and a dollar amount. There were no remaining payments due.

BMW doesn't know how to treat their customers, the vehicle is beautiful but not worth the mechanical headaches. Scratch that, I could even deal with mechanical issues if there was some shred of decency toward the customer, but I can't compromise my self-respect. I can't do business with those who treat a customer in this fashion, on an ongoing basis, across business divisions!

IT'S THE PEOPLE AND THE SERVICE WHO ULTIMATELY SELL THE BRAND - and it's too bad BMW doesn't put a little of their amazing engineering into how their front line people HANDLE the customer interactions.

PS - The 2003 Honda is still a dream at 88K plus miles and I have always been treated reasonably. How nice. Not flashy, but dependable and makes me feel not like rubbish but like a valued customer. As for our new convertible, we're going with the Lexus IS C.

welcome to the newly ENLIGHTENED who have switched from german marketing and hype to japanese quality and reliability.

i haven't visited any lately, but there are several forums FULL of HORROR STORIES from bmw and mb owners.

XYZZ, Thanks for the welcome! (Here I am "off BMW" and it's friendlier already!)

I have read some of the horror stories and can't believe that my saga actually pales in comparison. (At least as far as net dollars lost!)