Mercedes-Benz Overtakes Lexus in Sales Race

Last year a big topic in the automotive industry was the sales race for the top-selling luxury brand in the United States. Lexus, which has reigned at the top of the charts since 2000, got a run for its money throughout the year from BMW.

In 2009, sales were dropping across the board, but it was about who declined the least, capturing a larger market share. This year, while the economy at large has yet to roar back, luxury car sales are on the upswing.

It was clear that there was some underlying issues with Lexus last year. Normally, Lexus was far ahead of the competition in sales, but declines at the brand in 2009 were pretty steep.

This year in market share it looks to be losing its grip as well. Mercedes-Benz has overtaken Lexus in sales, coming in at 165,427 year to date. BMW drops a spot to third place, with 157,464 sold.

The race is pretty wide open though as not much separates the sales figures for each of these automakers. A lot could change between now and the end of the year too. Last year, slow fourth quarter sales prevented BMW from overtaking Lexus as the year end leader.

The results in 2009 shook out like this: Lexus on top with 215,975 vehicles sold, followed by BMW with and Mercedes in third with 190,604.