Lexus' U.S. sales dipped 1.5 percent in July but the Toyota brand's 25,025 deliveries still outpaced year-to-date luxury leaders BMW and Mercedes-Benz during the month.
With the RX crossover leading the way with 9,247 deliveries, Lexus' light-truck sales rose 1.9 percent to 17,500 last month, while car deliveries fell 8.5 percent to 7,525. For the first seven months, Lexus sales totaled 160,760, a 0.2 percent increase.
BMW maintained its year-to-date lead with July deliveries rising 4.7 percent to 23,015; the brand's year-to-date sales rose 2.3 percent to 179,455. Sales of the BMW X3 crossover surged 33 percent to 5,690 while demand for the X5 increased 43 percent to 3,804. X4 crossover volume jumped 85 percent to 752.
Mercedes' July sales rose 23 percent to 24,612, narrowing the brand's decline in year-to-date deliveries to 3.8 percent. Mercedes' crossovers registered strong gains with the GLC rising 25 percent to 5,539 and the GLE gaining 19 percent to 5,301.
With July in the books, BMW leads Mercedes by nearly 7,500 vehicles for the 2019 luxury sales crown.
Total luxury sales could not be calculated for July because General Motors, FCA US, Ford Motor Co. and Tesla Inc. report only quarterly results. In the first half of the year, luxury light-vehicle sales dipped 0.5 percent vs. a 2.4 percent decline in the overall market.
