Demand for Hybrid Brings Record UK Sales for Lexus

• Lexus enjoys record UK sales year – 15,126 vehicles, 70% of which are hybrid SUVs
• Highest ever sales tally for the luxury hybrid leader – with a 58% increase in SUV sales over 2018
• Total represents a 25% increase over 2018

Lexus has surpassed its all-time UK sales record, with 15,126 new cars leaving showrooms so far this year.  Set to close out 2019 with a forecast of 15,700 customer deliveries at year-end, Lexus dealers are already beating the previous record year for the brand in Britain, which was 2007, before the global financial crash.

Driving the significant uplift – a 25% increase in total over 2018 – is exceptional demand from luxury car buyers for the Lexus hybrid SUV range; bolstered this year with the introduction of the UX compact SUV.  The arrival of the UX earlier in the year gave Lexus customers a comprehensive choice of full, mid-size and compact lifestyle vehicles all powered by its efficient self-charging hybrid drivetrain.

Sales of Lexus hybrid SUVs – UX, NX, RX and RX-L – make up 70% of the brand’s total sales figure for 2019 and have risen 58% in the past year.  The mid-size NX tracked 2018 performance, with more than 4,600 sold. The luxuriously equipped RX and RX-L – widely regarded as the originator of the luxury crossover market – experienced double-digit growth in demand, with a 19% rise year-on-year.  Underpinning the performance of both, UX hit the ground running in its inaugural sales year with approximately 3,500 customers – many new to the Lexus brand – choosing the new compact SUV.

With much of the UK’s car market experiencing something of a slowdown in 2019, Lexus Director Ewan Shepherd was all the more delighted with the record result:

“2019 has been a tough market for many manufacturers but the Lexus proposition of self-charging petrol-electric hybrid, outstanding quality, service and the bold design of our vehicles, has helped us buck the trend to deliver a record year.

“The biggest thanks go to our customers – those who love the brand and the ever-increasing numbers of those who have discovered it this year.”

Alongside its hybrid SUV range, Lexus also launched the ES luxury hybrid saloon to market in 2019 and, such has its reception been, buyers are currently experiencing a three month lead time on orders.

Shepherd added; “It is really pleasing that this achievement is built on the high quality retail sales delivered by our network and the growing appeal of our vehicles in the fleet market. 2019 has been a great year for Lexus and we go into 2020 with real momentum and with our best ever range of self-charging hybrid cars and SUVs.”

The record sales performance at Lexus coincides with a year that has seen the brand awarded the most industry, quality and customer service accolades in its history.  Amongst other awards, earlier this year, Which? named Lexus both Best Car Brand and its Most Trusted Brand.  Lexus owners, through the Auto Express Driver Power survey, voted the brand Britain’s best car manufacturer and have praised its dealer network, voting Lexus as number one retailer for the third year running.

ENDS