Lexus Sets Middle East Sales Record in 2013

I’ll admit – I know little to nothing about the automotive market in the Middle East apart from a constant stream of articles and news pieces. They left me with the assumption that everyone in Dubai cruises around in oil money funded exotics.

So when this tidbit of news–that Lexus has registered a 19% sales increase in 2013 in the Middle East luxury segment–came as a pretty pleasant surprise. Specifically, Lexus sold a total number of 37,284 vehicles in the region’s luxury segment.

Comments from Nobuyuki Negishi, Chief Represntative of Middle East & North Africa:

“Building on the three main pillars of aggressive design, dynamic performance, and advanced environmental and safety technologies, we have made consistent, innovative progress and seen strong customer acceptance of our new design philosophy.”

Reports indicate the newly released Lexus IS led the charge in growth at +63% (good for 1,864 units). Next came the LS at +55% increase with 2,171 units. In the SUV segment, sales of the Lexus GX grew by +63% for 1,060 units.

Overall – the numbers are still a fair bit behind its immediate rivals in BMW and Mercedes Benz, according to this report by Luxury Society. Admittedly, the reported numbers vary a bit but we’ll definitely be looking into this a bit further as more information comes in.