BMW, Mercedes, Tied For 2011 Premium Car Sales Leader

"I doubt Lexus will water down their offerings to compete with Mercedes and BMWs fleet specials and econoboxes."

Well Lexus first of all doesn't have the brand prestige that their rivals have. Go to the BMW Museum and Mercedes Museum in Germany and then tell me where the Lexus museum with their "classic cars and glorious history" is located...

Smart is manufactured by Smart, a BRAND of the Daimler group. By your stupid logic your Lexus is either a Toyota or Scion or possibly even a Daihatsu.

The point about museums is that they showcase a brands history and heritage. That equates to prestige, especially if the brand has been around for a long time, like Mercedes. It also adds a strong emotional connection to the brand, especially since nowadays luxury car purchases are increasingly becoming an emotional part of the buying process. A museum serves to inspire visitors and turn them into fans or customers (if they're not owners of the brand already).

And do you think the Europeans got to where they are by building terrible cars? Um, no. I've owned a handful of German cars and I've never had any serious issues with them. I tend to keep my cars for a long time, to, and put a lot of miles on them. I currently own a 2007 Mercedes C230 (V6) that's never given me any trouble whatsoever. I will continue to be interested and buy products from this brand because of my great experiences with their cars and the dealership experience.

I can't take you seriously anyway since in every Audi/BMW/Mercedes-Benz sales topic you have to talk about how their entry-level cars sell the most and try to pass them off as "non-luxury" cars. Well no shit, Sherlock, entry-level cars, even in the premium sector, sell the most, naturally. And for your information the top-selling Audi/BMW/MBs globally and in Europe are the A4/3er/C class and not the A1/1er/A+B class. Oh, and speaking of entry-level cars that sell in huge droves, Lexus isn't any different with their Camry-based ES and the equally Toyota-based Lexus RX. I hear the CT200h is also selling in large numbers...

If I am the "ultimate badge whore", you're the ultimate Lexus fanboy.

I find it amazing by all these guys defending LEXUS so much (or any other car brand). Do any of you drive one? By driving one I don't mean a souped up Toyota (ie, IS 250, RX 350 or ES 350). We have a LS 460 and yes we do find it to be a great car but no better than a 7 series, S-Class or A-8. If any of those cars would had been priced at the same level including the same options I would have not purchased the LS.
Since I am an inconspicuous consumer, I hope we do lose the title of premium sales leader. I don't want to own the car that everybody owns. I want EXCLUSIVITY and I don't want to be related to dumba$$es like this!

IS is a souped up toyota like youre a harvard grad moonlighting at walmart. the dumbass is you while youre driving your loaner while the lexus driver is STILL driving their own car