Lexus Tops Mercedes in U.S. Luxury-Auto Sales in March, Quarter
April 01, 2010, 6:22 PM EDT

By David Welch and Katie Merx

April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus increased its U.S. sales 42 percent in March to finish the first quarter with the luxury-vehicle lead over Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz.

Lexus sold 20,219 cars and sport-utility vehicles last month and 49,523 for the quarter, according to a statement today. Mercedes reported sales of 19,637 for March, a 26 percent increase from a year earlier, and 49,229 for the quarter.

Toyota’s division has been the top seller of luxury vehicles in the U.S. on an annual basis for 10 years in a row. Mercedes, helped by its revamped E-Class sedan, had moved ahead of Lexus and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG through 2010’s first two months. The BMW brand posted a 3.1 percent increase in March to 18,060 and finished the quarter at 46,323.

“The luxury market is doing pretty well,” said Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst at Edmunds.com, a Santa Monica, California-based provider of industry data. “We assumed when times were tough that luxury sales would fall. It has held its share of the market.”

Lexus benefited from a tripling of sales of its redesigned GX mid-size SUV, as well as increases of 30 percent for the RX sport-utility vehicle and 29 percent for the IS car, according to the statement from Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota.

At Mercedes, sales of the E-Class more than doubled while the C-Class, its highest-volume model, rose 20 percent, the unit of Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler said in a statement.

‘Not Holding Back’

Mercedes expects more increases from the E-Class as it adds a convertible version in May and a diesel E-350 in October, said Ernst Lieb, chief executive officer of the brand’s U.S. unit.

“We’re not holding back,” he said. “We have newer products than some of our competitors. We’re going after whatever we can get.”

BMW intends to pass Lexus for the No. 1 rank in the U.S. by 2012 on the strength of new models, Jim O’Donnell, president of the Munich-based company’s North American unit, said yesterday.

In March, BMW spent an average of $4,797 a vehicle on incentives, compared with $3,527 for Mercedes and $1,778 for Lexus, according to Edmunds.com.

“BMW has a lot of good lease deals,” Caldwell said. “They’re trying to hold onto the market.”

Cadillac, the luxury brand of Detroit-based General Motors Co., reported a 42 percent increase to 11,639 for the month as sales of its redesigned SRX crossover sport-utility vehicle surged more than sixfold. Cadillac spent a per-vehicle average of $4,307 on incentives, third among luxury brands behind BMW and Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln, according to Edmunds.com.

Lincoln sales rose 19 percent to 8,693 vehicles, Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford said in a statement.

Infiniti, Audi

Nissan Motor Co.’s Infiniti sold 9,942 vehicles, a 37 percent increase from a year earlier and the brand’s best month since August 2008, the Yokohama, Japan-based company said in a statement.

Volkswagen AG’s Audi division said it sold 8,589 vehicles in March, up 34 percent. The total was a record for the month, beating the previous high in 2007, Ingolstadt, Germany-based Audi said in a statement.

Sales at Honda Motor Co.’s Acura brand gained 30 percent to 11,722 cars and SUVs, according to the Tokyo-based automaker.

Tata Motors Ltd. said sales for the Mumbai-based company’s Land Rover brand increased 21 percent to 2,726 vehicles and reported a 16 percent drop to 983 cars for Jaguar.

--Editors: John Lear, Jamie Butters