BMW on its way to take No.1 luxury automaker title in the U.S. from Le

[Andrew 30]

BMW is just a few thousand unit sales away from taking the No.1 spot from Lexus as the largest luxury automaker in the United States.

“We’re really breathing down Lexus’ neck,” said Jim O’Donnell, CEO of BMW Group’s North American sales operation. ”We were slightly ahead of Lexus (in sales) until July. But we expect business to pick up and have a strong fourth quarter. We could catch them.”

For the first 8 months of 2009, BMW has sold a total of 129,176 units, while Lexus has sold 131,469. Analysts say that BMW has been working hard to expand its lineup with new product offerings such as the new BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo.

“That’s really helped them close the gap with Lexus,” George Augustaitis, a market analyst with CSM Worldwide in Northville told the Detroit News.

Lexus has been the top selling luxury automaker in the U.S. for the past 9 years.

[deeveus 81]

Amazing that Lexus has held the podium for that long. Personally I don't see anything in them as I think they're just a glorified Toyota with extra things to go wrong, although they do appear to be quite reliable.

BMW FTW.

By the way, my post count is bigger than yours Andrew, seriously! Editing the database much haha?

[antil33t 90]

Good job BMW _b

And I get called a post whore

[Docile 64]

lexus cars are bullet proof.

we have owned a '98 lexus gs 300 for 6 years. only thing that really had to be replaced was the fan belts. replaced thermostat and waterpump but they were still in good condition. no oil leaks or engine & drivetrain probs. and averaged about 40km a day.

[antil33t 90]

Is that the "toyota aristo"?

Thems are nice. 2JZ's are fairly bulletproof.

[Lucan 196]

Wut?

[shaneg 0]

That's a few in 8 months..

BMW nz only sold 150 since the start of this year..

Hyundai sold 146 cars at field-days last weekend..

That Hyundai genesis is on it's way here this year also.

[soarer260@hotmail.com 0]

I was a Lexus nut case for years before trying out some BMWs

Had about 6 Lexus model cars, but the driving experience of a BMW is FAR superior to that of an old man Lexus, they just have good motors.

[my_e36 43]

That's a few in 8 months..

BMW nz only sold 150 since the start of this year..

Hyundai sold 146 cars at field-days last weekend..

That Hyundai genesis is on it's way here this year also.

Totally different brand/clientele is hardly a good comparison in sales figure.

USA is BMW's biggest market I've read somewhere.

All those recall probably doesn't help the Lexus figure even if it's only by association with Toyota.

[shaneg 0]

wasnt making a comparison..

just some random useless info as i was just chatting to my flatmates about it, one works for hyundai and the other is bmw nz managing directors son.. who works there also.