U.S. SALES OF LARGE LUXURY CARS – APRIL 2010

Not including the nonexistent (or nearly nonexistent) sales of the outgoing Jaguar XJ or the low-volume Maserati Quattroporte, the top end of the luxury sedan market isn’t the place for Best Sellers. These are company flagships, the cream of the crop. And no doubt money is made, but the core of the market – 550i and E550 and A6 – now that’s where automakers find the money to pour into the coffers. The cars in the Graph below, however, are image builders; the vehicles which signify to rivals and buyers that an automaker is a serious luxury player.

Not surprisingly then, America’s best-selling luxury brand builds April’s best-selling large luxury car. The Lexus LS, available as the LS460, the long-wheelbase LS460L, as an LS460 or LS460L with all-wheel drive, or as the hybridized LS600hL, sold at a rate similar to that of the Volkswagen Passat or Mitsubishi Lancer. This means two things: VW and Mitsubishi need to up their Sales Stats…. and Lexus is selling a lot of big LS sedans.