Lexus has been the top selling brand in the U.S. auto market for 11 years running but for the last three months; it was outsold by Mercedes-Benz. In a statement, the unit of Daimler AG said that its U.S. deliveries got a boost from sales of its E-class and C-class sedans, increasing by 9.4% to 21,484 compared to the same month last year. Lexus sales increased to 20,682, about 2.3% higher than the previous year.
The year is definitely shaping up to be an excellent one for Mercedes, whose January-March 2011 sales are higher by 729 units compared to BMW. It also has a 5,990-unit lead over Lexus. In the first quarter, Mercedes sold 53,346 vehicles while Lexus sold 47,356.
These results do not include non-luxury vehicles such as Daimler’s Sprinter vans and Smart cars. Mark Templin, head of U.S. sales for Toyota Motor Corp.’s luxury brand, said that Lexus may not be the top-selling U.S. luxury brand as its factory operations have still not stabilized after the earthquake. When asked which of its rivals stand to benefit from Lexus’ production issues, Templin declined to speculate and asked the interviewer to ask the other companies himself.
