Lexus Laps BMW and Mercedes for Second Straight U.S. Sales Win

The compact UX crossover has steadily helped boost the Toyota division’s deliveries.

Gabrielle Coppola

05 Sep 2019, 12:02 PM IST

Lexus Laps BMW and Mercedes for Second Straight U.S. Sales Win

The silhouettes of attendees arriving for a press conference are seen as the Lexus logo is displayed during the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. (Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus outsold both BMW and Mercedes-Benz for a second straight month in August, as the introduction of a new entry-level crossover model helps put the Japanese brand back in contention with its German foes for luxury leadership.

Lexus sales rose 4.6% last month to 29,931, beating BMW AG’s namesake brand by about 4,400 units and Daimler AG’s Mercedes by 5,160. The compact UX crossover has steadily helped boost the Toyota division’s deliveries since it started trickling into Lexus showrooms at the end of 2018.

BMW still leads for the year with 204,960 cars and sport utility vehicles sold through August, followed by 196,779 for Mercedes and 190,691 for Lexus.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gabrielle Coppola in New York at gcoppola@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Chester Dawson, Melinda Grenier