Lexus overtakes Mercedes-Benz in U.S. luxury vehicles sales

I've owned Lexus LS, Toyota Land Cruiser and a Land Rover Discovery. You can have your "taste". I'm not buying another british car ever.

Not surprising considering the lexus are cheaper and lexus is giving much better incentives then MB!

kpaxx

any reference to your data? or just some BS you made up?

average incentive

Lincoln-$5,205
BMW $4,797
Cadillac-$4,307
3,527 for Mercedes
$1,778 for Lexus

get real. Lexus was never hugely discounted. besides. more people buy lexus, not lease (as oppose to BMW, for example)

ghost --- psst Lexus vs Mercedes not BMW in the equation. Also, I would bet that the average MSRP margin of a Mercedes over the Lexus is at least $10,000 average per car.

Mercedes has at least 12 models that have a Base MSRP of over $80,000

Lexus has 1 & soon to be 2.

that would be :
Sl550, Sl63, Sl65, S550, S550 4 matic, S600,S400 hybrid, S63, S65, E63, E63 wagon, ML63, G55, GL550, CLK 63 cab, E class coupe 63

Lexus has the LS600hl & soon to be released LFA ...

Actually there are about 16 models of Mercedes .... For Mercedes to be that close and have that many more

"Lexus overtakes Mercedes-Benz in U.S. luxury vehicles sales"

- What about the rest of the world?

They are not in the rest of the world yet.

Yes they are (at least in europe). Have been for a while. They just dont sell them like they do in the U.S

Lexus hasn't been making any cars for the European market. No diesels except IS 220 which is so so. If you compare gasoline car sales in Europe Lexus is doing pretty well among the luxo crowd. They just haven't had any cars with 40-50 mpg to compete in Europe. CTh will be the first one.

in the rest of the world, add Smart + MB, and compare against toyota + lexus. MB would be even more totally DEMOLISHED sales wise.

further, in all the markets where lexus is not offered, Toyota already has enough of a sterling reputation, there was no need to even offer the lexus line.

Who care where they win it or what country, a win is a win. Stop your bitching and complaining. The sales should be a bigger margin once Lexus bring out their next Lexus IS and GS model. And hopefully this time they will make a real coupe version of the IS250/350 and the GS350/450.

If Lexus loses in a comparison, you will still bitching and moan, If you hate Lexus and Toyota that much just ignore it.

"Who care where they win it or what country, a win is a win."

- How about a win in any other country other than America? Americans are car dumb and is the only country where they are enough fools to pick a Toyota over a Mercedes.

there was a time when the crap cranked out by MB was so bad, CR could not recommend even ONE model! worse than even GM in this respect. only chrysler has fared worse.

in comparison, it was only recently where CR would NOT recommend toyotas. and even then, only certain models. most still got HIGH recommendations.

Congratulation Lexus

I am glad more lemmings are purchasing boring transportation that is not fun or fast but theoretically maybe reliable? Who cares the old Geezers that buy a Lexus are just driving it to Bingo.

Sales are Sales and that is why companies are here for. To make money they dont care what gear heads think or who buys as long as they are selling.

I drive a Lexus, I'm not an old geezer and I hate bingo ! so your point was what ??

you are an anomaly!

The average Lexus costs less than a Mercedes so this isn't news worthy....I would expect it

and infiniti, acura, saab, are cheaper too...so what? they dont beat lexus in sales

What's your point...It is easy to sell vehicles when you whore out the golden goose...Why do you think Bentley is selling more than Rolls Royce? Volkswagen decided to making cheaper vehicles that some could afford to swing a lease on.

Some folks think that sales numbers mean better cars. If that were the case VW would be the builders of the best cars in the world. Flawed thinking.

Let's face it, a Lexus and a Mercedes are not comparable in either - quality build including but not limited to fit and finish, strength of materials (especially the body), driving experience - the Mercedes-Benz is a driver's car made for someone who knows and enjoys driving, the Lexus is an unthrilling (boring) point a to point b car. The Lexus is geard towards the Cadillac and Buick buyer. They are geard towards the wanna be's and the those people that really don't have a clue what real luxury is. I would take an Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz any day over a Japanese vehicle. Toyota motor corporations PR department did a ingenious job in the U.S. making Lexus appear to be something that it is not!

You're now comparing premium to luxury. Big difference.

Can't believe all the crying about this. Lexus has dominated U.S. premium auto sales for over 10 years.
What's the big surprise here?

BMW leads in U.S. true-luxury for 2009

Automotive News Europe sister publication Automotive News estimates that 600,000 true-luxury cars were sold last year in the United States, about the same number as in 2008. The true-luxury total had dipped 30 percent in 2008.

The 2009 leader and new champion was the BMW brand, with 119,219. It was the closest race ever. BMW beat Mercedes-Benz by just 431 units.

Mercedes, which had an estimated 118,788 true-luxury sales last year, was the leader in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

BMW's 119,219 deliveries meant that 61 percent of its 196,502 sales were in the true-luxury category. Mercedes was a fraction better at 62 percent.

BMW and Mercedes finished second and third in the overall luxury segment. Lexus led that group, but 58 percent of Lexus sales were taken by the ES 350, IS 250 and 350 and RX 350 and 450h. All are priced below $45,000.
True luxury
The 2009 ranking of true luxury vehicles with sticker prices over $45,000

2009 sales over $45,000 % of total sales
1. BMW 119,219 61%
2. Mercedes-Benz 118,788 62
3. Lexus 83,754 39
4. Cadillac 64,801 59
5. Infiniti 44,040 54
6. Audi 35,550 43
7. Lincoln 28,862 35
8. Land Rover 26,306 100
9. Porsche 19,696 100
10. Jaguar 11,955 100
11 Saab 5,451 63

Those models are luxurious, no question about that, but their price stickers disqualify them from consideration in the true-luxury class. Only 39 percent of Lexus sales were over-$45,000 models.

Near-luxury models also figured in the BMW and Mercedes breakout. BMW's 1 series and all but a single model of its best-selling 3 series check in at less than $45,000.

Likewise at Mercedes, where the C series accounts for 28 percent of sales and all but one model, the super-super AMG, are well under $45,000.

Lexus had 83,754 true-luxury sales, followed by Cadillac with 64,801 or 59 percent of total Cadillac sales. Most sales of the CTS sedan and SRX crossover are under $45,000. They are Cadillac's two best-selling lines.

The SalesTales true-luxury class includes all major brands that had at least 20 percent of their 2009 U.S. sales in the over-$45,000 segment. It consisted of two domestic brands (Cadillac and Lincoln), four from Germany (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi), three from Japan (Lexus, Infiniti, Acura) and two from the UK (Jaguar and Land Rover).

who really CARES whether or not the premium brand car they buy is "true" luxury or merely "entry luxury!?"

considering that the most popular "car" bought by millionaires is the Ford F150, only TRUE SNOBS make a point of price.

The sad part is MB have twice as much models compared to Lexus. I guess the new generation buyers do pick quality over badge name.

whine whine whine. Is it that upsetting to these German fanboys??? Crraziness and borderline sad.

I don't know so many of this German fanboys are bitching and crying. If you know your history German and Japan were Ally during WWII and German made Japan an Honoray Aryan.

Please go and read some real history book before your open your mouth or make stupid commments. STOP Bitching and moaning, it NOT like you're losing money when Toyota or Lexus sales a car. Unless you own a BMW, MB or Audi stocks.

blue shirt,
Gawd you are clueless, it doesn't matter that they have more models because their cars are much more expensive so thus they will sell. Rolls Royce could have twice as many models and still not sell double what they do now if they sold the cars at the same prices.

Lexus Sucks

Who cares...

Yes probably true I don't know but the reason is because with the price of one Mercedes you can buy two Lexus. If you want quality and prestige you have to pay for it.

if you want to THROW AWAY MONEY on high maintenance, otherwise mediocre machinery that just happens to have that intangible but useless "name", you have the choice of paying for it.