saabfan

Don't be jealous Lexus lovers. I know right now you can only dream of numbers like these, but, with virtually no work Lexus could be there quick. Trust me, GM knows!




on the inside.

jrock65

In my opinion, M sales have a lot of upside. Reasons:

1) The $65M nationwide advertising blitz starts today (04/01/05).

2) All of the comparo wins can only help. Probably not much, but can't hurt.

3) Quite a few people don't really know much about Infiniti. Everyone knows MB, BMW, and Lexus. As the brand's image improves with hits such as the G, FX, M, and QX, that can only improve traffic into showrooms, which will improve sales.

4) The G35 sedan sales went from 35,765 in 2003, to 42,800 in 2004, and is on pace for 48,016 in 2005. It is possible that the M will have such an upward curve.

Anyways, just speculation on my part.

RNM GS3

Its great to see the GS doing well!! ..............BUT Lexus has got to offer a SPORTS package in order to win over those BMW customers. The damn LS comes with 1, so i dont get why the GS does not. 19in wheels, sport tuned suspension, tighter steering..............Hopefully this will 1 day be available.

I can't believe the 5 series is the sales leader, the car looks like CRAP.

The RL is overpriced IMO. This car should max out in the low $40s, not at 50+k.

LexFather

I can see that. And what happened to the American companies with Toyota/Nissan/Honda with sub 30k cars/SUV, well will slowly happen to the Germans with Lexus/Infiniti/Acura. I think unless they really clean up the quality, people are going to get tired of paying more for a car for the prestige/image when the Japanese offer near or the same product.

How much can the luxury market hold? Its gotten huge the past 10 years with players and cars.

spwolf

Dont forget that G35 Coupe sales are dropping at the same rate G35 Sedan rates are rising :-).
Anyway, G35 has been smashing success, appealing to younger drivers.

But, I think most important stats are between M, GS and RL. You can clearly see what customers preffer :-), even with M's greater availability as compared to GS, as well as incentives.

RL is simply not an real contender, no matter what the mags say - no V8, one fully equipped model with V6 at 50k doesnt appeal to people as much...

spwolf

p.s. for those who didnt get the % rates, they are adjusted based on DSR (daily selling rate), and March 2005 had 1 extra day compared to March 2004.

Also, there is an great deal of pickup in Corolla sales, most likely due to the gas prices, smaller sedans are becoming increasingly good choice.

Also, on Lexus sales - some of you have noticed that Lexus has doesnt plan huge increase in 2005 sales (very small % wise), even if introducing new models such as GS, IS and RX400h, which should account for some extra 50k sales this year alone. I believe their strategy is to reduce incentives on most sold cars, hence I think RX sales wont go up too much this year, even if RX400h comes in with extra 20% sales.

One of the fears in Lexus is not to dillute their brand, and lose their "prestige" status due to selling more than 300,000 cars - which is the line most analyst mention is what they believe the upper limit for luxury maker. This is why Lexus MSRP's are raising in new models as well.

LexusChris

iTrader: (1)

Those sales number for the GS seems really good... , the Acura RL sales seem to be weak and it's only the first year still...hopefully when the 3 models GS 300, GS 430, and GS 450h are all out together they can probably outsell either the E or 5...

Gojirra99

The RL has no V8 version, so maybe it's not as bad as it looks. Still, if you go Acura, I think it's still pretty hard to justify the price difference between the TL & the RL despite of the AWD & the extra gadgets. The TL isn't smaller inside & looks better IMO.

I wonder how many GS450h will be made available when they introduce it next year ?

jrock65

"Dont forget that G35 Coupe sales are dropping at the same rate G35 Sedan rates are rising :-)."

G sedan sales went up by over 7000 units in 2004, G Coupe sales went down by less than 600 units in 2004. It seems to be an even split so far in 2005, but we'll see what happens.

I was really surprised that the G sedan had its best ever sales month during the first full month of sales for the M. I was expecting base versions of the M to take away some upper end G35 buyers.

"even with M's greater availability as compared to GS, as well as incentives."

What incentives? As far as I know, there are no incentives on the M.

ktiger

I can also see the M sales improving over the but I don't think it will ever catch the GS. All in all both cars will but tremendous pressure on BMW and Mercedes. I think the E class will take the brunt of that force.

As far as the G35, remember that the release of the new IS is right around the corner. If it drives as sporty as it looks then I can't see the G35 sales climbing much higer. This segment has gotten more competitive than the mid luxury market with the 3 series, TL/TSX , G35, A4 and now the IS. This put a smile on my face because all of these cars are winners, imho.

jrock65

"I can also see the M sales improving over the but I don't think it will ever catch the GS."

I agree with you. I don't think that the M, even with improved sales, will catch the GS in sales.

"I can't see the G35 sales climbing much higer."

Agreed again. There is no way that G35 sales will continue to go up as the new IS and the new 3 are right around the corner, and the G35 is in its final couple years model run. It'll be interesting to see what Infiniti's response is to the 300+hp IS350. Rumors in Japan say that a 330 hp 4.1 VQ (G40?) is coming in the next Skyline. Of course, it could be just hogwash, but Nissan/Infiniti has been pretty adamant about having the highest power ratings for every one of their cars in its segment, so we'll see.

If the G40 does materialize, I think they almost have to offer a G25 or G30 to do battle with the 325i and the IS250.

LexFather

Wow, I pretty much agree with all the ^^^^^^ said.
For those that want all CAR SALES for March 2005
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...90#post1266290

Incendiary

Lexus seems to be doing well, although I'm not sure what the breakdown of 2006 and 2005 models is.

Do y'all really want Lexus to have most number of sales, though? Some complaints MB and BMW owners have is that their cars are too commonplace. Acura's RL sales don't seem to be that specatular, and I agree that some of the specs, some of the aesthetics, some of the lesser prestige factors all play a role, in addition to price due to only one fully optioned model and no V8 halo offering. Profit is more important, though, and I know Toyota is one of, if not the most, profitable car companies in the world. I wonder how Acura, Jaguar, MB, etc. are doing in terms of profit/car and overall profit margins. And actually, I guess more than profit, stock prices might be even more important, although the two should have a high correlation. If Lexus does offer 3 models (GS300, 350, 430/460) in addition to hybrid (which for now must be their M/AMG competitor model) and wagons (which I doubt we'll see for a while), they would definitely overtake MB and BMW mid-size lux sales. I think it'd be a huge mistake for AWD to only be available on GS300, though. GS350 must have it as well if they actually move to a 3 model gas only range (although I still think the GS350 will supplant, not complement, the GS300).

Sales for luxury cars are increasing and more luxury competitors are in the mix. At the same time, it seems to me that more people are buying more expensive houses right out of college. Many of my friends are, at least. I wonder if Americans' debt burden is increasing at a high rate, because I just can't see all these young people buying nice houses and cars and having much larger salaries to afford it all compared to just a generation ago.

spwolf

I thought several people have reported incentives on M's on these boards, up to 1,5k? When I check dealer inventories, they are full of them, unlike Lexus dealers, which means they are willing to talk. Point is - people are buying more GS's.

And also, Infiniti and Acura sell 2.5x less cars than Lexus, they need more volume if anything, so RL's low sales are very low for them, much lower than what they said they "expect", which was probably minimum.

p.s. dont get me wrong, G is selling great, even if it goes down in sales due to compoetition, it is still selling great.

ktiger

[QUOTE=jrock65If the G40 does materialize, I think they almost have to offer a G25 or G30 to do battle with the 325i and the IS250.[/QUOTE]

I think it would be smart for both Lexus and Infiniti to do a three tier model just like the German automakers. Also with both companies taking part in F1 and other racing venues I would hope they both would challenge the German's on the ultra high performance end (M series and AMG).