BMW Bests Lexus in Luxury Sales Race for Third Straight Month
BMW‘s continued sales success and repeated declines at Lexus, the U.S. market’s luxury leader, have now put the German automaker ahead of its Japanese competitor for the third straight month. In August Lexus suffered yet another loss with sales down 15 percent compared to August of last year, totaling 19,465 units.During the same month, BMW managed to move 19,540 vehicles (up 1.6 percent) with strongest growth for the 1 Series and 7 Series.
Part of the blame lies with the bad press generated by the significant number of Toyota recalls, while the Lexus brand wasn’t without its own problems, issuing recalls for both the LS460 and GX460. Stale Lexus models are also to blame, with little in the way of new product, while both BMW and Mercedes continue to churn out new cars.
BMW has made it clear that it intends to become the number one luxury brand in the U.S. and is gaining ground on Lexus.
For the year, however, Lexus still remains in top spot with 145,490 units (and 11 percent increase), while Mercedes takes up second place with 139,867 units (up 18 percent) and BMW trailing just behind with 139,236 units – an increase of 7.8 percent.
[Source: Bloomberg]
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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...what? are the sheeple catching on that dressed up camry/4 runner/rav 4's with 'L' badges on them really aren't good performing vehicles, or worth anywhere near their price tag?!! The only lexus worth a squat is the is250 which still essentially is an overpriced vehicle. Should informed consumers really be surprised that Toyota, a stand alone car company with no corporate sister to share components and R&D with, would be left far behind the conglomerate auto companies streamlined operations who put out superior products for less - and higher end companies like BMW who offer more performance and pedigree than Lexus ever could. Not a winning formula for Toyota, standing pat with ancient dated vehicles, considering their propensity for greed at the expensive of quality, reliability, and safety. The party's coming to an end for Toyota. I wouldn't buy Toyota stock for ANY price!