Lexus arrived on US shores in 1989 with the 1990 LS 400, and it redefined the luxury car segment. From its too-cool electroluminescent gauges to the suave, near-silent V8 powertrain, the LS 400 made American luxury look antiquated by comparison. It even made established German brands do a double-take.
That was over 35 years ago. Now, Lexus is an established brand, but is it still making Germans – and BMW in particular – do a double-take?
Lexus Sales Are Rebounding
2026 Lexus RX 500h F Sport PerformanceLexus
BMW recently announced its third-quarter sales performance in North America, and we couldn’t help doing some comparisons with Japan’s predominant luxury brand, Lexus. At a glance, it appears that Lexus is still schooling Germany. Compared to last year, the brand reported a modest 1.6% increase for Q3, spanning July, August, and September. Given the current automotive climate, any increase is a good one.
However, that growth jumped 11.4% in September. Nearly every Lexus SUV posted positive growth, led by the RX with 9,370 sales for the month. With 89,824 sales for the year (an 11.7% increase), the RX is the most popular Lexus by a wide margin. Cars did well, too, though admittedly there aren’t many left. The IS clocked a 55.8% sales increase for September and is up nearly 52% for the year with 22,257 units sold. The car segment is down sharply for the year at -28.1% though, as inventories of the canceled RC and LS dwindle.
Is BMW Actually Schooling Lexus?
2027 BMW i3 ExteriorBMW
While September sales for Lexus look strong, a mere glance doesn’t tell the whole story. Lexus is actually down overall for the year, if only slightly at 2.9%. Meanwhile at BMW, the numbers are going up: 4.3% growth for the year so far, with a 3.4% gain in Q3. The Germans are outpacing Lexus, with the company’s core vehicles – X3, X5, and 3 Series – leading the charge.
X3 sales reached 22,457 for the quarter, up 7%. That’s actually enough to beat a hard-charging X5 for the quarter, though just barely. X5 sales rose 21.5% to 22,213, though X5 is still BMW’s best-selling vehicle for the year with 63,767 sales. The midsize SUV is having a banger of a year: sales are up 22.9%, and with the redesigned X5 getting rave reviews, next year could be even better.
As for the iconic 3 Series, it’s also having a banner year with sales up 46.4% in the quarter and 37.3% for the year. Almost 30,000 have sold so far, but sadly, it’s the only BMW car doing well. The 5 Series plunged 20.6% in Q3, the 7 Series dropped 10%, and the 2 Series fell 9.7%.
Lexus Can’t Catch Up To BMW
2027 Lexus RX 350h Premium AWD front 3/4 viewLexus
When all is said and done, the numbers fall in favor of BMW. Between the two brands, BMW is the only one up overall for the year, and BMW still outsells Lexus by a significant margin: 287,154 vehicles to 262,768. BMW’s sheer volume is its saving grace, and it would take a significant set of circumstances for Lexus to make up that sales gap before the end of the year. But what about 2027? If Lexus can keep its September success moving forward, the German-versus-Japanese battle could be tighter than ever.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Exterior view of the BMW X3BMW
Tariffs in the US are making things difficult for every automaker, foreign or domestic. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is debatable, depending on your point-of-view. But whichever side of the aisle you’re on, there’s no question that tariffs are forcing companies to reevaluate their manufacturing and sales plans.
As all this continues to evolve, sales data becomes ever more important to see just how high luxury buyers are willing to go on price before they seek less-expensive alternatives.
