Lexus December & 2019 Year-End Sales Report

[Trexus]

Update of IS sales:

1IS
2000 - 15,540
2001 - 22,486
2002 - 20,306
2003 - 13,559
2004 - 9,972
2005 - 15,789
2IS
2006 - 54,267
2007 - 54,933
2008 - 49,432
2009 - 38,077
2010 - 34,129
2011 - 29,669
2012 - 27,708
2013 - 35,017
3IS
2014 - 51,358
2015 - 46,430
2016 - 37,289
2017 - 26,482
2018 - 22,927
2019 - 14,920 YTD - January thru December, my projection 20,000
Total = 620,290

The IS line definitely needs to be updated and bring back the IS F with at least 426hp - 504hp (M3 has 425hp and C63S has 503hp) and IS 300h to North America. C'mon Lexus you can do it...

 

[Trexus]

Update of GS sales:

1GS (S140)
1993 - 19,164
1994 - 13,939
1995 - 6,253
1996 - 2,044
1997 - 7,718
2GS
1998 - 30,622
1999 - 30,326
2000 - 26,705
2001 - 24,461
2002 - 17,246
2003 - 13,306
2004 - 8,262
2005 - 33,457
3GS
2006 - 27,390
2007 - 23,381
2008 - 15,759
2009 - 7,430
2010 - 7,059
2011 - 3,746
4GS
2012 - 22,160
2013 - 19,742
2014 - 22,198
2015 - 23,117
2016 - 14,878
2017 - 7,773
2018 - 6,604
2019 - 3,378 YTD - January thru November, my projection 5,000
Total = 438,118

Lexus please do not cancel the GS. Please bring us the 5GS!!!

 

[Trexus]

Update of LS sales:

1LS (XF10)
1990 - 42,806
1991 - 36,955
1992 - 32,561
1993 - 23,783
1994 - 22,443
2LS (XF20)
1995 - 23,657
1996 - 22,237
1997 - 19,618
1998 - 20,790
1999 - 16,357
2000 - 15,871
3LS (XF30)
2001 - 31,110
2002 - 26,261
2003 - 23,895
2004 - 32,272
2005 - 26,043
2006 - 19,546
4LS (XF40)
2007 - 35,226
2008 - 20,255
2009 - 11,334
2010 - 12,275
2011 - 9,568
2012 - 8,345
2013 - 10,727
2014 - 8,559
2015 - 7,165
2016 - 5,514
2017 - 4,094
5LS (XF50)
2018 - 9,302
2019 - 5,528 YTD - January thru December
Total = 584,097

Lexus please bring back a V8 LS. Please bring us the LS F!!!

 

[Carmaker1]

I politely mentioned before that grouping stuff into generations is inaccurate, because that stuff isn't broken down really well and is probably proprietary information they don't give out. It's all by calendar year, not model year.

Therefore, if it can't be broken down into a science...yet.

"1LS" (XF10) was both 1989 and 1990, not just 1990. From August 1989 to December 31, 1989, 11,574 LS 400s were sold to customers.

During the year 1990 from January 1 to December 31, Lexus sold a total of 42,806 units of both 1990 and 1991 model year LS 400s. After the end of Gen 1, some leftover 1994s were sold in early 1995 too, which fall under 1995 sales numbers. They are not broken down by Toyota publically as "1LS" and "2LS". Therefore 1995 sales are not solely 2LS.

"2LS" was both 1994 (November 15-December 31) and 1995, plus early 2001 sales (many dealers still have a glut of unsold units).

"3LS" arrived in dealers on October 12, 2000 and shared with "2LS" the months of October, November, and December 2000, plus Oct, Nov, and Dec 2006 with "4LS". Some months in early 2007 are LS 430 too.

Only 2008-2017 sales period are comfortably 99.9% "4LS". Ditto for 1989-1993 for "1LS", 1996-99 for "2LS", 2002-05 for "3LS". Everything else is too transitional and not so transparent (1994-95, 2000-01, 2006-07).

"5LS" mostly accounted for 2018, but it's hard to gauge since only "4LS" units still were selling in January 2018, well into spring.

Listing the years with no breakdown by generation is the easiest (less time intensive) and most accurate, because these numbers are not well defined at the beginning and end of generations.

They don't like giving away such info, if a new model isn't selling as well as the previous generation or vice versa. Any sales look good on the surface. Case in point, trouble laden 2020 Ford Explorer vs 2019 Explorer masked any losses.

I can imagine that hundreds of those 2018 sales came from the XF40 generation LS and not the sexy XF50, which has amazing presence on the road (ES is nice, but not as imposing) with tinted windows. Meaning possibly less than 9,000 5LS cars were sold in 2018. It's not outlandish.

The same issue exists with your "1GS", "2GS" etc and "1IS", "2IS". Most of 2005 sales were "3GS" and two IS generations shared 2005 and 2013.

We all appreciate the effort you undertake to post all these sales numbers for us to refer to, but it's best that they are accurate as possible.

 

[Trexus]

2019 Luxury Sedan Sales YTD January Through December

Lexus
ES - 51,336
IS - 14,920
GS - 3,378
LS - 5,528
Total = 75,162 YTD January Thru December

BMW
3 Series - 47,827
5 Series - 38,709
7 Series - 8,823
Total = 95,359 YTD January Thru December

Mercedes
A Class - 17,641
C Class - 49,153
E Class - 40,113
S Class - 12,528
Total = 119,435 YTD January Thru December

Audi
A3 - 10,418
A4 - 26,435
A6 - 17,807
A8 - 2,963
Total = 57,623 YTD January Thru December

 

[Will1991]

ES is doing remarkably well considering it sold more than the competition (5 Series/A6/E Class), there is only 2 engines options, no AWD available and no PHEV available (all the competition has this option).

This also show what Lexus may think doing, I know BMW/Mercedes/Audi have those "Coupe" sedans, but 4 sedans is really more than enough in my opinion...

It would be a CT sedan, IS, ES and LS. It would make Lexus present across sedan range.

I mean, 3 series vs 4 series GC, E Class vs CLS, A6 vs A7... I can't stop thinking they're making internal competition in a shrinking segment... Making them losing money...

And our current ES already took a more Coupe-like silhouette:

I know a lot of us around here loved the GS, but considering how much the ES grew and how much Lexus improved it...

Sure, GS F was an amazing car, but according to some prototype reviews Lexus is sorting this out with a electric rear axle... I won't say all is perfect with Lexus, but they might be on the right path, and this last rumor of an all-new IS coming really give a huge bump to Lexus future hopes!

 

[mikeavelli]

It looks your SC sales are by MY. These must be by CY.

View attachment 3715

It is pretty impossible to tell sales by model. They report by year and that’s standard. There will be sold old models mixed in but for the most part it gives us a good look at trends.

I for one and thankful Trexus does this. I used to and it’s a ton of work.

 

[mikeavelli]

ES is doing remarkably well considering it sold more than the competition (5 Series/A6/E Class), there is only 2 engines options, no AWD available and no PHEV available (all the competition has this option).

This also show what Lexus may think doing, I know BMW/Mercedes/Audi have those "Coupe" sedans, but 4 sedans is really more than enough in my opinion...

It would be a CT sedan, IS, ES and LS. It would make Lexus present across sedan range.

I mean, 3 series vs 4 series GC, E Class vs CLS, A6 vs A7... I can't stop thinking they're making internal competition in a shrinking segment... Making them losing money...

And our current ES already took a more Coupe-like silhouette:

I know a lot of us around here loved the GS, but considering how much the ES grew and how much Lexus improved it...

Sure, GS F was an amazing car, but according to some prototype reviews Lexus is sorting this out with a electric rear axle... I won't say all is perfect with Lexus, but they might be on the right path, and this last rumor of an all-new IS coming really give a huge bump to Lexus future hopes!

We’ve owned a loaded GS F-Sport and now a Loaded ES F-Sport. The ES for all intents and purposes is perfect for most people. Huge inside, high quality, fast enough, handles good enough with good enough features for 50k or so.

The GS lacked the interior space and IMO wasn’t as attractive but is pretty much superior in every way. It is a real sports sedan and begs to be driven hard. The ES begs you not to push it hard.

In a perfect world I wish we got the ES and had the GS RWD platform inside. Would be amazing.

 

[Carmaker1]

It is pretty impossible to tell sales by model. They report by year and that’s standard. There will be sold old models mixed in but for the most part it gives us a good look at trends.

I for one and thankful Trexus does this. I used to and it’s a ton of work.

It's indeed impossible to decipher by model year (MY), as it's strictly by year. I've tried to narrow it down by MY and generation before and...whoa, heck no LOL. That info does exist, but it requires privileges to access certain market data across all dealers and distribution.

Those SC sales provided by Trexus interestingly differ from the year to year numbers I found dating back to 1991, so they are probably a very rare set of info provided by Toyota Motor Sales USA in the 90s. Everything else is just by sales year (Jan to Dec).

 

[mikeavelli]

It's indeed impossible to decipher by model year (MY), as it's strictly by year. I've tried to narrow it down by MY and generation before and...whoa, heck no LOL. That info does exist, but it requires privileges to access certain market data across all dealers and distribution.

Those SC sales provided by Trexus interestingly differ from the year to year numbers I found dating back to 1991, so they are probably a very rare set of info provided by Toyota Motor Sales USA in the 90s. Everything else is just by sales year (Jan to Dec).

Maybe we could find info on sales goals as well. Would be interesting to see goals vs results.

Looking at what Trexus has complied its interesting to see how much the 1SC changed vs the 2SC which stayed pretty even until it died. Note Lexus left them for a long time with minimal changes. The LC Target it didn’t hit but from what I’ve heard from multiple sources the vehicle is still a big key for Lexus and they will invest in it to fare better. Not sure if that’s marketing support or updates .

 

[mikeavelli]

I find myself a bit fascinated with this segment as it has replaced sedans in this class. For the first time the Germans all outsold the Japanese and Americans. That is a crazy shift. the GLC really is a grand slam. The NX being the oldest held its own very well.

What is utterly disappointing for Infiniti again is the QX50 was to be their volume car, around 50k units. Sales plummeted last year and is sadly another failure in a long line of them. They have a QX55 (coupe) coming but its been delayed a few months and I doubt it spikes sales much.

2019 Year End
GLC 73,650
X3 70,110
Q5 67,516
RDX 62,876
NX 58,715
XT5 49,879
Envision 33,229
XC60 30,578
QX50 18,616

 

[Gecko]

While GLC can get very expensive with options, it feels like it punches above its weight even in more basic trims. I don't really care for many Mercedes products, but the GLC is a slam dunk and they deserve that #1 spot.

 

[James]

Update of LS sales:

1LS (XF10)
1990 - 42,806
1991 - 36,955
1992 - 32,561
1993 - 23,783
1994 - 22,443
2LS (XF20)
1995 - 23,657
1996 - 22,237
1997 - 19,618
1998 - 20,790
1999 - 16,357
2000 - 15,871
3LS (XF30)
2001 - 31,110
2002 - 26,261
2003 - 23,895
2004 - 32,272
2005 - 26,043
2006 - 19,546
4LS (XF40)
2007 - 35,226
2008 - 20,255
2009 - 11,334
2010 - 12,275
2011 - 9,568
2012 - 8,345
2013 - 10,727
2014 - 8,559
2015 - 7,165
2016 - 5,514
2017 - 4,094
5LS (XF50)
2018 - 9,302
2019 - 5,528 YTD - January thru December
Total = 584,097

Lexus please bring back a V8 LS. Please bring us the LS F!!!

Totally agree! Question for you Trexus or everyone else as well, do we know what the target amount was for the LS for the year?

 

[mikeavelli]

Totally agree! Question for you Trexus or everyone else as well, do we know what the target amount was for the LS for the year?

For 2018 it was 1000 units a month. I assume the target lowers as the car gets older. Unfortunately they have not met it.

While GLC can get very expensive with options, it feels like it punches above its weight even in more basic trims. I don't really care for many Mercedes products, but the GLC is a slam dunk and they deserve that #1 spot.

The interior alone is amazing,jacked right out the C-class. And very good point they offer it has a suv a “coupe” and AMG variants.

 

[Trexus]

While GLC can get very expensive with options, it feels like it punches above its weight even in more basic trims. I don't really care for many Mercedes products, but the GLC is a slam dunk and they deserve that #1 spot.

Agreed. A big congratulations to the Mercedes GLC, well deserved. Love the AMG variants of the GLC as well.

I do find the BMW X3 very handsome especially the X3 M (473hp) and X3 M Competition (503hp). If only Lexus built an NX F with at least 474hp - 504hp...