Lexus to smash annual sales record

LEXUS Australia is poised to seta new full-year sales record, passing the 9027 units achieved back in 2016 after recording 894 sales last month alone – up 27.4 per cent over November 2018.

The Japanese prestigebrand has sold 8891 vehicles for the 11 months ending November 30, which puts it up by 762 units (9.4%) compared to the same point last year and places it just 136 shy of its all-time record mark. 

The company said that it should move into unchartered sales territory during the first week of December. 

“Class-leading product and a dedication to benchmark ownership will help ensure that Lexus continues to welcome an increasing number of customers to the brand,” said Lexus Australia chief executive Scott Thompson.

Of the almost 900 vehicles delivered in November, 751 (84%) of them were SUVs, with the medium-sized NX doing most of the heavy lifting with 355 sales, backed by the bigger RX which chalked up 207 units and is clearly benefiting from arecent upgrade which added equipment and lowered the entry level. 

The all-new smaller UX crossover contributed 162 sales – up 99 units on November 2018 – while the upper-large LX wagon added a modest 27.

These are offsetting declines across Lexus’ passenger car range, with all models struggling except the newly updated ES mid-sized sedan which saw 53 sales compared to 19 in November last year – an immediate improvement in line with the latest range overhaul.

Year to date, the ES is up 180.5 per cent with 519 sales, while incremental volume brought by the UX – launched in January this year – has pushed Lexus to its record mark, racking up 1733 sales YTD. 

This places the UX just behind RX (1756, -5.7%) and still some way off the top-selling NX (3227, -7.1%), but ahead of the IS small car (760, -26.5%).