Luxury Car Sales Hit the Skids

Wealthy suburbanites' car of choice gets high-end makeover

(NEWSER) - Stodgy luxury standby Lexus is trying to trade up to the hot "prestige luxury" market with a new line of $70,000 and up automobiles. Along with the new models comes a massive rebranding effort that aims, says a marketing manager, to get "Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci and Lexus all mentioned in the same breath." More»

BMW edges out Mercedes-Benz for crown

(NEWSER) - The Beamers win: BMW has earned the honor of being the top-selling luxury brand of car in the US for 2011, reports the Wall Street Journal . It takes the title from Toyota's Lexus, which had dominated for a decade but never quite recovered from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. This year it came down to BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and the crown was so coveted that neither side wanted to report first, notes Bloomberg . Finally, Mercedes announced sales this morning of 245,192. BMW followed a few hours later and beat the total by about 2,700 vehicles. More»

(NEWSER) - Rolls-Royce has good news for cash-strapped millionaires: They won’t have to condescend to buy a Bentley, Time reports. The automaker, known for its gigantic limousines, is about to release the Ghost, a short, sleek four-door sedan priced at a mere $245,000. That’s a sight lower than the $380,000 the company’s flagship Phantom sells for, but up from Bentley’s Continental line of low(er)-priced luxury cars. More»

Today's figures 'as low as it's going to get': analyst

(NEWSER) - Figures to be released today are likely to show a third straight month of annualized new-car sales below 10 million, the Wall Street Journal reports—but there’s a chance those numbers have hit bottom. Considering the size of the American consumer market, today’s figure “is about as low as it's going to get,” says an analyst. More»

Nissan down 37%; Toyota sees 32% drop; GM fares better, but still 16% lower

(NEWSER) - As expected, early sales reports from automakers paint a dismal picture, MarketWatch reports. Ford reports a 34% drop in US sales in September compared to a year ago; Toyota’s were off 32% and General Motors’ fell 16%, AP adds. Industry-wide, sales are down almost 20% over this time in 2007, the Detroit Free Press writes. More»