Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 5, 2010

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus posted a 22 percent surge in December U.S. sales, finishing its 10th consecutive year in the top spot for luxury autos after fending off a challenge by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG.

Lexus sold 28,565 vehicles last month and 215,975 for the year, the Toyota City, Japan-based company said in a statement yesterday. BMW’s namesake brand reported a December increase of 11 percent from a year earlier to 20,128 and an annual total of 196,502.

The Toyota division retained its title after falling behind BMW through July. The December gains for the brands capped a year in which sales slid 17 percent for Lexus and 21 percent for Munich-based BMW, as the U.S. total for cars and light trucks tumbled 21 percent to 10.4 million, the fewest since 1982.

Lexus “finally had availability on the RX – it’s their defining car. That’s helping them out,” said Jim Hall, principal of consulting firm 2953 Analytics in Birmingham, Michigan. “And the deals that are available are also convincing buyers to come in.”

Luxury autos may have benefited from an expiring sales-tax credit offered by the federal government that expired Dec. 31, said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. Last month also had two more sales days than December 2008.

“December is generally a really strong luxury month,” said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at research firm Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California.

U.S. industry sales rose 15 percent in December, led by Ford Motor Co.’s 33 percent increase.

Mercedes-Benz, third in U.S. luxury-auto sales, reported an 8.2 percent increase in December to 20,025 vehicles. The unit of Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler AG posted a full-year drop of 15 percent to 190,604.

General Motors Co.’s Cadillac rose 11 percent to 14,745. The annual total fell 32 percent to 109,092, the Detroit-based company said.

Volkswagen AG’s Audi said it sold 9,030 vehicles last month, a 17 percent increase. Sales for Ingolstadt, Germany- based Audi dropped 5.7 percent to 82,716 for the year.

Ford’s Lincoln gained 16 percent to 10,467 vehicles. The brand fell 23 percent to 82,847 for the year, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker reported.

Nissan Motor Co.’s Infiniti gained 10 percent to 9,108 for December and declined 28 percent to 81,089 for the year, according to the Yokohama, Japan-based company.

Sales at Acura, Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co.’s luxury brand, slid less than 1 percent to 10,575 in December and 27 percent to 105,723 for the year, the company said.

The Jaguar and Land Rover brands, owned by Tata Motors Ltd., said sales jumped 33 percent to 4,841 in December and fell 14 percent to 38,261 for all of 2009.

More at  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGLsW4k3ObEc&pos=7

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