Lexus Sold Most Luxury Vehicles In August - Is Japanese Quality Winning The Race Over Entry Models?

"Quality" doesn't sell vehicles. Widespread consumer appeal does. Hyundai sells a lot more vehicles than BMW, Mercedes, Audi or Lexus. Does that make them higher quality? I suspect it's because Hyundai are more attainable.

As for Lexus, I don't know enough about them to expound an informed opinion as to whether consumers are enamored with Lexus's quality, or whether pricing may pay more of a factor when compared to its competitors on a model-to-model basis.

Regardless, congrats to Lexus!

Hyundai quality is quite higher than the vaunted Germans, actually.

Of course Quality and Reliability DOES sell vehicles for some perspective buyers. Why do you thing Honda Accord is always at the top of everyone's buy list for that segment. Some folks like the Lexus blogger drives them for a reason. They don't care about the German performance factor as much. Maybe they want a "balance" of a good reliable car, along with almost as much performance.

I like Japanese quality cars. When I was younger (years ago) in college, that's all I drove were those RELIABLE Japanese vehicles. I could NOT afford to have my car to break down. Many people still feel that way, and they've had "good luck" or "good success" with a Toyota, Honda, Nissan and purchased those brand cars for their children now. "We didn't want our child broken down on the side of the road".

Us "seasoned" drivers ;-), might drive a German car for that performance, fun factor and not necessarily putting being reliable number 1. I understand that driving a German made vehicle will 1) cost me more in maintenance; 2) may NOT be as reliable as (say) a Lexus; 3) and what was that old saying years ago: "Jaguars you need to own two - one to drive when the other is in the repair shop".

I still have an older Toyota truck with about 160K miles I drive to the college most often, rather then my Audi S6 as much. A couple of sets of tires, break pads and a battery are all I've done over those miles (besides the regular maintenance). Of course people want a car that will be on the road more (dependable) then in the shop.

Lexus outselling BMW and Mercedes? Nothing to see here, they outsold all other luxury makers for more than a decade previous to the last couple of years.

Lexus had the same "boom month" in August 2014 after trailing the two German brands all year. Then they remained 3rd each month thereafter. Their "Summer of Lexus" events are very successful, but they will need to find a way to maintain the momentum through the end of the year.

NOT QUALITY! but $299 LEASES is what is helping them win the race!
Why get a CAMRY for $189 a month when you can get an NX/IS/ES for $299?

Lexus sells because,

1. They are reliable, meaning they are good appliances for people who don't really care much about cars

2. They are cheap

And other than those? Lexus absolutely has no advantage over anyone else. It's "Japanese" we are talking about, Lexus doesn't sell because it is prestigious, it just sells because it has some ok luxury interior in it + reliability.

prestige is fake it's all image. GMs nor Caddys have neither prestige nor quality by the way.

It's all image, and Lexus has none. Can you tell me why there is no soccer player or celebrity who is a "big fan" of Lexus or any Japanese luxury cars out there? And the way the engineering is done on the Italian supercars and the German luxury cars are "real" and they are more than just simple "image", so you fail.

When did I say GM has prestige? That's not even what the American luxury cars are about to begin with. I was comparing the European luxury to Japanese garbage like this one.

But then again, I can bet that you are someone who is too poor to own a German car and constantly worried about maintenance, so you have no choice but to just consider the Japanese reliability as both "luxury and quality", I kind of feel sorry for you, friend. Is Toyota Corolla luxurious and filled with quality because it's reliable? LOL!!

GMCadillac I'm sorry buddy but I actually bought my Infiniti M37x brand new and the sticker was higher than the 5 series that my cousin tried to convince me to buy, so affordability wasn't sh!t to me. I make the money, I have excellent credit, I'm good, so take that poor Caddy Escalade crap you're spewing elsewhere. I'm not caught up on the hype, or the fake image, or prestige of the so-called European auto pedigree. In my opinion, the only time the German/Europeans win is on the flagship, and grand tourer level - S class, 7 series, Aston DB, etc. Otherwise everything else (mid/entry-level luxury) is all pretend anyway so it's up for grabs and the Japanese luxury brands have been proven they're capable of winning in that regard. I feel sorry for you people who can't accept that even cheap mainstream Japanese cars are made better than that gaudy crap you feel you need to own to validate yourself.

Bmw Audi are pos. Benz and lLexus are true royalty!

My boss has an e90 M3. $1,300 to replace an alternator two months ago because the dash lit up like a xmas tree. Guess what, car's back in the shop with the same issue. He's parking it for winter and then cyanara M3 in the spring.

For those of us who bought premium cars in the past - the idea of repairs was something we were PREPARED for - it was normal for a car with cutting edge features to have US spend for their development.

First - Lexus is at best - a second tier PREMIUM car manufacturer - I still do not accept the idea that the ES and RX count as LUXURY cars. Even the 3/4, and A4 class are not although the C-class may now be. And - the cars most often bought are NOT Large Luxury cars they are a Front WHeel Drive Buick Competitor - and a smallish SUV.

GMCadillac I'm sorry buddy but I actually bought my Infiniti M37x brand new and the sticker was higher than the 5 series that my cousin tried to convince me to buy, so affordability wasn't sh!t to me. I make the money, I have excellent credit, I'm good, so take that poor Caddy Escalade crap you're spewing elsewhere. I'm not caught up on the hype, or the fake image, or prestige of the so-called European auto pedigree. In my opinion, the only time the German/Europeans win is on the flagship, and grand tourer level - S class, 7 series, Aston DB, etc. Otherwise everything else (mid/entry-level luxury) is all pretend anyway so it's up for grabs and the Japanese luxury brands have been proven they're capable of winning in that regard. I feel sorry for you people who can't accept that even cheap mainstream Japanese cars are made better than that gaudy crap you feel you need to own to validate yourself.

The problem is that it is not true any more. The mainstream Japanese car is not any more reliable than others - and it is Toyota (Even after the GM key problem) that leads in recalls in the last few years.

When US cars were basic - had crank windows and an AM radio - they always started - and ran forever. WHen they added all sorts of features - the became less so - but Japan and VW came in with Small 4 cylinder cars - with crank windows - standard transmissions - and AM/FM mono radios - and they lasted forever.

However - once these cars started to add the features of higher end cars - they also became less reliable too. The perception has not caught up with the reality yet - although it HAS for Volkswagon (I know it is not Japanese - but it is a large seller world wide). Ask a person who Bought a Honda Mini-Van how much they paid for their Transmission replacement - they are having nightmares with them. Now - adding smaller turbo engines to the mix will simply add more problems as well. And Takata is a Japanese firm. All these cars use parts from various sources - and can hardly be directly identified as being from a particular country. WE now have VOLVO vehicles from China in the USA - and most Toyota Camrys are made in the USA - not Japan.

TomM, so the Germans can trade on their luxury pedigree even though the Japanese caught up to them in 1990 when Lexus and Infiniti perfectly executed (from a quality standpoint - before benz then started apeing lexus) what Acura started in '86? However the Japanese can't trade on their well-earned rep/30+ year run of perfectly executed cars that don't need expensive repairs until well into the depreciation schedule, because of the recent spate of recalls, really??? I mean they haven't needed expensive repairs, until maybe 5-8 years after the note has been paid off?? Honda's tranny and Takata's airbags issues notwithstanding the cars are way more reliable than many vehicles costing tens of thousands more. By the way we know cars are made with parts sourced everywhere - it's not the where the parts come from that's the issue, it's where their designed, and engineered etc.

But anyway I was really addressing the prestige issue that GMCadillac brought up in this thread. Only a doofus fan boy buys an entry/mid size luxury vehicle on the prestige of the marque alone. Damn straight I expect quality to be in the mix when I'm making that decision, and if the Japanese are offering an appealing, high performing, well engineered, and well-executed package hell yes I'll buy it before parading around in some 1-5 series, A3-A6, or CLA-E class, merely because they're German - they have to earn my $$. I can't take serious a website that advocates for posing wannabes.