Look for Christmas to come earlier than ever this year, because for the first time in years, Mercedes-Benz (DDAIF.PK) has made a horse race out of the contest with Lexus (TM) to be the No. 1-selling luxury brand in the United States. That makes it highly likely that the two luxury heavyweights will uncork their usual holiday season incentives earlier rather than later.
After a successful September, Mercedes-Benz outsold Lexus, at 165,362 year to date for Mercedes-Benz, versus 162,438 for Lexus, according to AutoData. At the end of eight months, Lexus, the perennial U.S. sales champion, was leading Mercedes-Benz for the year by only 794 units.
Lexus sales are up this year, just not as much as Mercedes-Benz sales (more...)