Genesis Motor America reported sales of 1,386 in March, a 21 percent decrease compared with the year earlier.“We are delighted that both March and Q1 sales performance are consistent with our expectations,”


So you expected a 21 percent decrease? That doesn't sound promising...

 

 

nah, it is all new, old one was blowed out earlier, there are none in inventory anymore. It is simply a success with new target demographics... Inventory of new one is still very low, so they keep on selling... I expect to see at minimum 12k at the end of the year, so we can add US to the sucessfull launches list of LS, with Japan already being record breaking (they pre-sold 9500 in first month).

 

Includes Rogue Sport as well.

 

Really? I just got this ad on google:

$10k off in an dealer ad. This is why it is selling well. It is old car and much better buy financially than ES or IS or GS. Lexus has killed off RC and GS inventory, obviously RC has facelift coming but GS is also obviously being slowed down, they simply dont want to lose money on it (or at least lose more than needed). This jives with Euro reports of stopping the production.

 

mistake of doing all sedans at first, but who cares, it is uphill battle, when their SUV comes, they will also have independent dealerships which will also work well for them when it comes to selling premium cars.

 

agreed that's pretty laughable spin. i don't mind having a more 'exclusive' car though.

 

Decent showing for Lexus even though their current promotions arent very enticing.

 

This is all conjecture, unless you have some type of press release from Toyota, you don't know whats really happening.

 

wow the q50 is insane... the gs continues to have horrible numbers, i really don't know what lexus would do next.

the new LS has a good start, but then that's how every LS start anyway. in 07 the LS also had incredible start around 1200 units a month. i have repeatedly said, the problem with lexus has always been in having consistent sales across lifetime of a product. if the LS can sustain 1000 units a month for 18-24 months then i would call it a success, it's way too early to tell now.

the nsx is interesting, i wonder how many of those are 17 and how many are 18....

 

Q50 being offered with $10k off MSRP, which is almost 30%, is not an conjecture... rest is analysis based on inventory levels you can track. It is pretty clear they slowed down production in anticipation of new ES that might replace it many markets, otherwise you would have a ton of unsold GS's sitting on the lots (like you have for IS, or LX for instance, both have more than usual inventory levels). It is just connecting the dots between articles on GS ending production for Europe and ES replacing the GS in many markets. Even if US still gets current GS, it will likely get full lineup of ES that is in the rest of the world meant to replace the GS.

 

Sure, bit in 2006, LS was coming into sedan market, their overall sedan sales were several times over today's, and it was coming off successful previous gen.

Now 1000 per month, at these 85k-100k prices in the market where 1000 sales is 12% of Lexus sedan sales is a big success. Especially in light how many old owners criticized it here because they changed their target group considerably with their decisions on body shape, engine, and level of sportiness.

 

For the third straight month this year Audi has sold more cars than Lexus did. So far this quarter they have sold roughly more than 3,000 (EDIT: 3763) cars than Lexus and if this trend continues down the line Audi will end up selling close to 14 thousand (EDIT: probably 15,000) more cars than Lexus this year.

 

with this car it is insane for anyone to think lexus is trying to keep the existing owners. that's the whole point anyway to shift the owners to younger age. 85-100k is not considered very expensive or elite group of owners anymore, even a higher end e class or 5 series is in that range.

but you are still missing my point. my point is consistency. problem with lexus (doesn't matter LS, GS, or IS) is it always start out very strong with very strong numbers, but over the next 12-24 months, sales decline considerably and imho that is the problem is maintaining a brand. i would say consistent sales of 800 units a month for 24 months over 1000 units now and 18 months from now down to under 500.

 

85-100K is still considered very expensive to most buyers/Americans, the avg cost of a new car is 33K and many spend well under that. I don't think there is a single 85-100K car in my neighborhood or the connecting 2 neighborhoods and they are really big neighborhoods and middle to upper middle class with plenty of Lexus, Acura, Mercedes, BMW, Infiniti cars aside from a older S class that may have hit 85K when new.

I do agree, Lexus models like the LS and GS for the past generation or 2 start off with good sales numbers but then the sales taper off pretty quickly and then tend to plummet where BMW and Mercedes stay pretty consistent.