Since its 1989 debut, Lexus has successfully rivaled German luxury carmakers in the United States. In 1992, Lexus outsold Mercedes and BMW to become the number one luxury import. That position solidified in 2000 and the automaker has been the market leader in unit sales for the past six years. Late last year, Toyota decided to expand the Lexus brand to other markets, including its homeland of Japan. But so far, sales aren’t living up to expectations. Sales of the three Lexus models currently on sale have been about 60 percent lower than the company’s targets, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
In the first six months of 2006, Toyota sold 150,000 Lexus cars in America — up six percent over the same period in 2005. Comparatively, sales in Japan were a disappointing 11,000 units during the same period — despite a recovering Japanese economy. Sales have been hurt partly by a large recall over defective seat belts, and delays related to the new LS sedan.
BMW reported record sales of 23,000 units in Japan during the first half of the year.
