RON430

Actually I don't find anything much in your comments or those that responded so testily to be off the mark. As it was, it is now, and most likely will be for a very long time. Lexus seems to be focusing harder on what they perceive their demographic to be and the gap between that demographic and the bimmer, merc, and probably audi demographic seems to be widening. If you are looking for a good ownership experience, shop Lexus. If you are looking for something oriented more towards the driving experience, most likely you will look elsewhere. Virtually every auto manufacturer sells more of their less expensive models, duh. So Lexus sells more IS and ES and bimmer the three series, merc the c class, and audi the A4. Also duh. Personally, I find the current Lexus lineup to be setting a new standard in lack of my enthusiasn but please before any of the inane comments, that is just my personal view and I don't expect anyone else to be so affected. It is also possible that the run in luxury cars that went along with the dot com and housing bubbles is finally running out of steam and people that are scrambling to pay for the gas in the tank have less to spend on the ginza by night dash boards and fine corinthian leather. Who knows? Lexus is a volume brand and they know how to address that market. For the performance enthusiast and those looking for some individualtiy, they are most likely looking elsewhere. And Lexus doesn't seem to be at all concerned about that. Never really were with a few exceptions.

doug_999

Thanks Mr. Jones - but how about including the BMW trucks in the count (you included the Lexus and MB truck counts....)

so....
Lexus - 285,000
BMW 243,577
MB - 219,678

Now, personally I'd love to know how many LS430s were in that LS430/LS460 total (shame on Lexus for not differentiating). Either way, I personally believe Lexus will sell every LS460 they make for a while - but Och, the total is going to be capped by how many they can make, not how many they can sell.

That said, here are some interesting numbers (for you spwolf since you take such pride in BMWs numbers being down).

Lexus car sales are up by 28,764 YTD which is 21.6% higher. Not bad, except that the IS sales are up by 37,458 YTD. Thus all of their cars (excluding IS) are actually down by 6.5% YTD.

Lexus light truck sales are down by 11,274 or 8.4%

BMW car sales are up by 14,485 or 8.1% YTD
BMW truck sales are down by 10,644 or 17% YTD

I expect that you will be able to stop knocking BMW sales when the new X5 appears (and if they keep up the incredible money factors on the 5-series).

That said, kudos to Lexus for now selling more cars than trucks.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Agreed.

About Lexus sales... they're very good except for GS/IS which are dismal.

About Acura - did anyone see those new MDX sales? Wow.

Och - about your down on the RX and it driving the wrong wheels - first, have you driven one? They're great. Second, you can get them with AWD of course.

TRDFantasy

Indeed, they are not appealing to enthusiasts, but very appealing to consumers. Just as the Cadillac DTS is not very appealing to enthusiasts, it still sells decently.

To clarify, by "worse" I meant the GS does not have as many model variations and options to choose from as the 5 Series and E Class do. The GS not having a AMG-style flagship means the Germans have an advantage in terms of image.

TRDFantasy

We *know* that Lexus is definitely doing something to help bolster the GS and IS lines, and to add model variations to them. The only question is when they arrive, and will the cars get any updates before the model variations arrive (ex. GS460, IS-F, IS Coupe).

TRDFantasy

Sorry, I didn't properly word it. What I meant was BMW in North America has never been a big player in the prestige luxury segment, and in particular full size luxury sedans. In case you're still wondering, I'm pointing the finger squarely at the 7 Series.

TRDFantasy

It's all relative. IS sales are definitely NOT dismal. GS sales, while they are dissapointing, also I would not consider dismal. I guess we have different interpretations of what dismal means .

GFerg

Lets not forget that Lexus set a goal to sell 40,000 IS models this year. They are already 9,000 over with another HUGE selling month to go. Seems like the IS is doing just fine IMO.

GS, they wanted somewhere around 25-30K, they got just that once again with only 3 differnt models. And two of those three models are special order or limited production (compared to the 7-10 different models MB and BMW offer).

I mean, what more do you want from them. Did yall forget that they already sell over 300K a year??!! Thats crazy high units for a luxury brand. Theres mainstream companies that dont sell that much. Hell, we should be pushing for more exclusive models.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, I've driven an old RX300, and the new RX400h. Garbage. Drives, and feels like a minivan, that dash design is so minivan its disgusting.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Well, as far as the GS goes, it's sales are continually dropping, despite the engine upgrade. I'm sure Lexus was expecting to bolster the sales with the upgrade, but that didn't work. I think they might want to revise interior to be more plush, like the 2nd gen was.

And the IS? The 250 is really outliving itself, it needs HP boost badly. It wasn't bad compared to the old 325 with pathetic 180hp, but the new 325 is ahead of it, the new C class will be ahead of it, and even the new TSX will most likely have more power.They should bolster it to around 240-260hp, And of course, coupes and model above the 350 wouldn't hurt either.

Gojirra99

I think some of the Lexus models will sell much better if they are willing to offer more attractive lease rates like the competitors to promote sales.
Their projected resale values are as good or not much worse but their lease rates are not competitive at all.
The way it is now, they are not encouraging leasing at all which makes up a huge part of luxury car sales nowadays. Maybe Lexus don't think they need to use leasing to boost the sales of every model since they are doing well enough overall already ? Their corporate policies seem to emphazie on maximizing profits for themselves & their dealers in the long term to keep them financially strong rather than maximize sales numbers as I've read before . . .

marshmallo

I noticed that. That is the only true bright spot for them.
In terms of utility the MDX is a great vehicle.

biker, the sales figures for TSX don't IMHO measure the health
of Acura. It is a nice car, but keep in mind it is just the European
Accord with some nice features. The TL is beginning to show some
signs of age as sales have started to taper. Good value still, but
the competition at the entry level is brutal...

doug_999

The residuals of Lexus vehicles have fallen and the hurts for sure. Couple that with Lexus rarely helping out with money factors (December being a notable exception).

However Lexus vehicles cost less than their competition and even better, have significantly higher dealer profit.

A quick (unscientific) comparison of the GS350 AWD with the 530xi shows the base GS350AWD $3,580 less than the 530xi. But wait, the Lexus dealer has 13.4% profit in that and the BMW dealer has 8.1%. It gets even better with the options where the Lexus dealer makes almost 20% on each option the car is equipped with and the BMW dealer makes around 8%. In the end the GS350 (discounted) can be had for significantly less money and thus equating to a lower lease price. So I'm thinking Lexus does not feel the need to offer the money factor support.

Of course those higher dealer profits are probably one of the reasons the residuals are less........

So yea, I think that with some support from Lexus you could see GS sales for instance significantly increase.

TRDFantasy

I think this makes perfect sense, as per what LexArazzo said. Lexus seems not that focused on encouraging higher sales. Virtually all Lexus sales seem to come "naturally", for lack of a better word. Lexus incentives and discounts are much lower than BMW, Audi, or Mercedes. And as mentioned, the lease rates are not as attractive. Over here in Ontario, I keep hearing Mercedes ads on the radio that claim 1.9% APR financing on a new E Class. I forgot the last time (if ever) that I have heard 1.9% for a Lexus vehicle. Lowest I remember for a Lexus vehicle is 3.9%.

These things no doubt have a hand in sales, and yet ironically, Lexus sales continue to rise.

Mr. Jones

Lexus sells as many GS and IS vehicles as they originally planned.

Targets were 24k/yr for the GS
and I think 36k/yr for the IS