Lexus August 2017 Sales Report

[krew]

krew

Best ever August for Lexus SUVs and crossovers.

View the original article post

 

[CIF]

Looking at combined Toyota/Lexus sales, those are some rock solid Camry and ES sales. They are bucking the trend in the face of a shrinking sedan segment. Way to go!

Also look at those GX sales! Wow over 3,000! Incredible.

 

[mikeavelli]

Its stunning to see Lexus barely sell 600 GS units, arguably the best driving car in class and the older GX sell a record month of over 3,300 units with no trying.

LC dipped off, hopefully that is due to inventory.

Overall a very good month with 30k units moved.

 

[Michael]

Do you think Lexus will bring a next generation of the GX because of the increase amount of sales or is Lexus going to use the 3 row RX as a replacement for the GX?

 

[GuoxJason]

SUVs!!! Body-on-Frame!
And RX! lol

The ES would do even better if it were to jump onto the new platform.

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

Lexus actually did quite well compared to its German rivals. Here are the highlights from an article by Amy Wilson of Automotive News:

Sales for the top three luxury auto brands fell in August, but No. 3 Lexus made up significant ground on its main German rivals by holding its sales loss to a much narrower margin...

Mercedes-Benz's sales, excluding the Sprinter and Metris commercial vehicles, slumped 11 percent to 25,373. BMW's fell 7.7 percent to 23,553.

No. 3 Lexus narrowed the gap by holding its own August decline to 0.4 percent and selling the most luxury vehicles -- 30,801 -- of any brand in the month.

Through the first eight months of 2017, Mercedes, with luxury sales of 213,242, still has a lead of 18,638 over BMW. BMW and Lexus are now much closer, with BMW hanging on to a 1,141-vehicle edge over Lexus...

Luxury brands that experienced sales gains in August were Audi, Infiniti, Genesis, Volvo and Land Rover. Only the first three were also up in the first eight months of the year.

For the full article:
http://www.autonews.com/article/201...y-slump?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Tragic Bronson]

That link didn't work for me, but this did (I'll put its entirety if someone can't access the links):

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...uxury-lexus-makes-up-ground-amid-luxury-slump

LUXURY: Lexus makes up ground amid luxury slump

Sales for the top three luxury auto brands fell in August, but No. 3 Lexus made up significant ground on its main German rivals by holding its sales loss to a much narrower margin.

With the effects of Hurricane Harvey crimping sales industrywide, U.S. sales of luxury vehicles fell 3.8 percent in August from the year-earlier month to 171,307 units. That was a steeper decline than the 1.8 percent drop in total U.S. light-vehicles sales last month.

Sales slid by even larger margins for the top two brands. Mercedes-Benz's sales, excluding the Sprinter and Metris commercial vehicles, slumped 11 percent to 25,373. BMW's fell 7.7 percent to 23,553.

No. 3 Lexus narrowed the gap by holding its own August decline to 0.4 percent and selling the most luxury vehicles -- 30,801 -- of any brand in the month.

Through the first eight months of 2017, Mercedes, with luxury sales of 213,242, still has a lead of 18,638 over BMW. BMW and Lexus are now much closer, with BMW hanging on to a 1,141-vehicle edge over Lexus.

"Customers took advantage of our Golden Opportunity Sales Event, and we were pleased to see Lexus sedans gain momentum for the month of August, most notably the ES," Jeff Bracken, Lexus general manager, said in a statement. "We also saw a sales increase for the NX and GX luxury utility vehicles. As the new 2018 models begin to roll in, we expect strong sales as we head toward the end of the year."

Availability, floods

Several luxury automakers pointed to limited availability of key models as a reason for their August decline. Several also cited flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in Houston and other parts of Texas as August ended.

"The fourth week of the month is typically our strongest selling period within the month, so that lined up to be, first and foremost, a devastation for the city and the residents, but then from a pure business standpoint, it has affected our sales there," Drew Slaven, vice president of marketing at Mercedes-Benz USA, said of the storm. "By how much, I can't say, because we don't know yet."

Mercedes dealerships in Texas escaped flood damage to their buildings and vehicle inventories, Slaven said. There are seven Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Houston and 17 in the metro Houston area. Those 17 dealerships, plus some others in outlying markets, were closed for varying periods of time during the storm. As of Friday morning, most were back up running, and all were expected to be fully operational by Tuesday, Slaven said.

With parts of the region still under water and east Texas still in storm recovery mode, Harvey is expected to affect Labor Day weekend sales and September's outcome, as well.

Challenges

Luxury automakers reported challenges with inventory levels in August, particularly on the SUV and crossover side.

"August numbers were a bit unusual in that sedans outpaced our SAVs as model year changeover for the X5 and new model production of the X3 significantly restricted availability of our especially popular SAV models," BMW of North America CEO Bernhard Kuhnt said in a statement. "This of course will improve as production ramps up."

Notable gains for BMW in August included the 4 series, 5 series and X1, the company said.

Limited availability of several models hurt the Mercedes monthly total, Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Dietmar Exler said in a statement. He didn't specify the affected models, but it particularly involved SUVs, a company spokeswoman said. Mercedes-Benz volume leaders in August included the C class, GLC and GLE.

Porsche saw a string of monthly increases end in August. Sales were down 9.1 percent to 4,709. Porsche pointed to delays in delivery of 2018 model year vehicles. Many of those are still "in the final regulatory approval process," Porsche said in a statement. "Porsche is working diligently to obtain all required approvals as soon as possible."

Sales of the top-selling Macan slumped 29 percent to 1,641.

Luxury brands that experienced sales gains in August were Audi, Infiniti, Genesis, Volvo and Land Rover. Only the first three were also up in the first eight months of the year.

Surprising that the ES is still rising, but with incentives like these, I suppose all the "on the fencers" AKA at or close to retirement guys were finally seeing a good deal on the car (Like my dad).

 

[Trexus]

The ES is doing pretty decent. The ES still outsells the IS and I love both models. Lexus could sell more ES units by introducing an ES coupe based on the Toyota Solara.

ES 300h
ES 350
ES 300h C
ES 350 C

 

[Michael]

The ES is doing pretty decent. The ES still outsells the IS and I love both models. Lexus could sell more ES units by introducing an ES coupe based on the Toyota Solara.

ES 300h
ES 350
ES 300h C
ES 350 C

good idea, but it would even better if Lexus made a 5 door version like the BMW 535 GT.

 

[Trexus]

good idea, but it would even better if Lexus made a 5 door version like the BMW 535 GT.

True, Lexus should take the IS and GS and make a 3 and 5 Series GT 5 door version.

As for an ES coupe it could potentially increase sales of the ES line by 11% - 20%.

 

[spwolf]

good idea, but it would even better if Lexus made a 5 door version like the BMW 535 GT.

who ever buys those? I rarely see them in Europe, they are very ugly vehicles.

 

[ssun30]

Not sure about the ES coupe idea. The Solara was discontinued because it didn't sell well. And it didn't sell well because it was always one generation behind the Camry. And it always lagged behind because it didn't save a lot of engineering effort (being based on the Camry) as Toyota expected it to be.

 

[bogglo]

Not sure about the ES coupe idea. The Solara was discontinued because it didn't sell well. And it didn't sell well because it was always one generation behind the Camry. And it always lagged behind because it didn't save a lot of engineering effort (being based on the Camry) as Toyota expected it to be.

I disagree the solara was more upscale to the camry and always ahead of the camry.

 

[ssun30]

I disagree the solara was more upscale to the camry and always ahead of the camry.

I was referring to the fact that the XV20 and XV30 Solara were both introduced when their Camry counterparts were already 3 years old, which means they were always using outdated technology. I remember the XV40 2GR Camry was so much superior to the XV30 Solara the latter went into oblivion with its decade old 3MZ. It means TMC didn't save much engineering effort by sharing platform between a convertible coupe and a sedan, which is counterproductive.

But still, the XV30 Solara Convertible has Toyota's best exterior design ever, it just looks right (the Coupe not so much).

 

[bogglo]

I was referring to the fact that the XV20 and XV30 Solara were both introduced when their Camry counterparts were already 3 years old, which means they were always using outdated technology. I remember the XV40 2GR Camry was so much superior to the XV30 Solara the latter went into oblivion with its decade old 3MZ. It means TMC didn't save much engineering effort by sharing platform between a convertible coupe and a sedan, which is counterproductive.

But still, the XV30 Solara Convertible has Toyota's best exterior design ever, it just looks right (the Coupe not so much).

I actually prefer all the solara coupe to the to the convertibles and my favorite solara was the first Gen.
compare the interior design of the solara in 2004 to the camry in 2004/2005/2006. Then see what happened in 2007 to the interior of the camry.


if you look at the rear view of the first solara and the 04-10 6series I thinks there is some similarities there . the only difference is one is more bulky.

am not going to argue about the engine. but considering how I beat up mine I had no complaint.

 

[mordecai]

The UX and the 3-row RX can't come any sooner. The NX refresh will also do wonders for that line's sales. I feel like the NX will not experience the mid cycle sales slump trend that other Lexus models experience. Its sales will keep going higher until right before the next generation comes in a couple of years.

 

[Trexus]

I agree mordecai. When the 3 row RX comes out sales will go up for the RX line and the UX will also increase sales for Lexus. The NX line is on fire...sales of the NX since inception:

2014 = 2,927
2015 = 43,764
2016 = 54,884
2017 = 36,946 From January thru August 2017. I'm projecting total NX sales for 2017 at about 56,000 units or more.
Total = 138,521

 

[Hemi]

You got a mistake with the NX percentage numbers for the month. It should be +1.7% I guess.

 

[GoHuskers]

You got a mistake with the NX percentage numbers for the month. It should be +1.7% I guess.

Not really...Percentage is based on the Total Sales && No. of Days. 201708 has 27 days while 201608 has 26 days.

With this trend and the low gas prices the GX may just live on and it SHOULD. Unless Lexus starts the LX at $70k and goes on from there to $90+k, many people wants a nice Lexus BOF but NOT $100k vehicle.

 

[mikeavelli]

South Florida is Lexus biggest market, not sure if that holds for the other German brands as well. With Irma coming sales will be slower here which won't help with momentum. A big blip to taking over BMW when every day is needed to make that happen.

BMW has the brand new 5, I haven't kept up with sales of it so I plan to check things out now. I see they have new SUVs coming.