Lexus to lose top spot in US luxury car market

CHICAGO: Toyota Motor Corp's brand Lexus will end its streak of 11 years as the top luxury brand in the US market due to lost sales in the aftermath of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, said Mark Templin, Lexus Division general manager.

Templin said Lexus US sales would fall about 17% to around 190,000 vehicles in 2011.

The United States is the biggest market for Lexus.

All Lexus models, except the RX 350 crossover sport utility vehicle, are made in Japan.

Templin said the Cambridge, Ontario plant that makes the RX 350 will be back at full capacity in September.

Most Japanese plants assembling Lexus models have already returned to full strength.

However, the RX 450h hybrid SUV will not be at full production until October. The hybrid is typically 15% to 20% of RX sales in the US market.

Lexus US sales fell 38% in June as dealers ran out of key products.

At the end of the month, dealers had about half their normal stock.

“June was the bottom of the trough, and we've turned the corner. We see the rest of the year being much better for us,” Templin said, speaking to reporters at a Lexus media event in Chicago.

Lexus sales tumbled 18% in the first half of 2011 to 88,010, and German rivals BMW and Daimler AG's MercedesBenz sprinted by.

BMW's sales rose 13% to 113,705, and MercedesBenz climbed 7% to 110,926.

If 2011 full year results end as expected, it would be the first time that BMW has outsold Lexus in the US since 1997. - Reuters