Lexus says China sales in May leap 35.1% YoY

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Lexus announced a sales volume of 22,145 new vehicles it achieved for its China market in May, a vigorous year-on-year growth of 35.1%, rebounding to the normal level before the COVID-19 broke out.

With 7,618 units sold, the electrified models accounted for 34.4% of the brand's China sales last month.

For the first five months, the Toyota-owned premium brand sold over 78,300 vehicles in the world's largest auto market, versus 52,700 units offered by Cadillac.

(Lexus ES, photo source: Lexus)

In 2019, Lexus saw its full-year China sales jump 25% from a year earlier to 200,521 units, for the first time topping the 200,000-unit threshold. Aiming to sell 300,000 units in 2020, the automaker also suffered severe losses inflicted by the coronavirus spread.

Thanks to the effective pandemic prevention and control, Lexus's China sales started recovering since March. Its first-quarter volume plunged 25.3% over the previous year, while the sales in March grew to 92% of the prior-year level. The growth returned to positive in April, standing at 6%.

The blooming increase is partly attributable to the automaker's proactive roll-out of new products. Apart from the main sales contributor, the all-new ES, Lexus put the LM flagship MPV and the UX 300e BEV into Chinese market this year, perfecting its China product matrix.

On June 16, the all-new Lexus IS made its world's debut, and will be sold in roughly 40 countries or regions worldwide from autumn. However, there is no report saying the new SUV will be introduced into China.