Lexus U.S. sales rise 31%, lead over Mercedes, BMW

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker, said U.S. sales of its luxury Lexus brand rose 31 percent in May as its incentive program helped it widen its lead over Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz division.

Lexus sold 22,216 vehicles in May, pushing its year-to-date total to 90,098 cars and trucks, up 23 percent from the same months last year. Mercedes sales rose 23 percent to 18,548 in May and gained 22 percent to 85,405 so far this year, Daimler said yesterday. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's namesake brand's sales declined 3 percent to 17,859 for the month.

Luxury sales lost pace with the U.S. market as Lincoln and Porsche also declined, said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst with Edmunds.com, the car-shopping site. Carmakers are selling down the current model year's inventory, which is pulling in more bargain hunters than true luxury buyers, Caldwell said.

"We expected Lexus to have a strong month because of its incentive programs," Caldwell said yesterday. "The ES and IS both did well. Those buyers are a little more price sensitive."

Lexus offered discounted leases and reduced-rate financing to spur the sales increase that exceeded the total U.S. market's 19 percent climb.

The incentive program will not be continued as Lexus switches to more brand-focused advertising for June and July, Templin said.

"We think the luxury market will grow at a faster rate than the overall market," Mark Templin, general manager of Lexus, said yesterday.

Mercedes Growing

Mercedes continued to grow on the sales of its redesigned E-class sedan, which more than doubled to 5,476. At the same time, Mercedes cut its incentives by 54 percent per vehicle to $2,834, according to Edmunds.com.