18
July
2014
|
08:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Lexus europe enjoys strong sales growth in first half of 2014

  • 2014 first-half sales results show that Lexus is the fastest growing premium brand in Europe this year
  • Europe sales amount at 24,586 in Jan-Jun 2014 (+25%)

Lexus sold 24,586 vehicles in Europe (including Russia and other Eastern countries) in the first half of the year. This corresponds to an increase of 25% vs. the first half of 2014, much higher than the growth of the premium market (+5%). The pace of Lexus sales growth is even higher when considering Western Europe(*) only: +33% to reach 13,235 units in the same period. Record increases were noted in Ireland (+206%), Portugal (+156%), Poland (+149%), Greece (+138%) and Finland (+100%).

Lexus performed also strongly in Russia with 8,729 units, an increase of 17% vs. last year, while the premium market as a whole only recorded a limited growth (+3%).

This sales growth is largely fuelled by recent product introductions. Sales of the new IS, launched in 2013, jumped nine-fold to 6,923 units in the first half of 2014, including 5,366 units of the all-new hybrid IS 300h. The GS hybrid line-up also strongly benefited from the introduction of the new GS 300h at the end of last year, achieving sales of 1,290 units (+75%). Hybrid vehicles represent 60% of Lexus sales in Europe. In Eastern Europe, the new GX met with large customer success (1,031 units, +141%).

"We are delighted to see the positive response of customers to our newly launched hybrid models", said Alain Uyttenhoven, TME Vice President and Head of Lexus Europe. "We plan to strengthen this sales momentum with the introduction of the new NX in the 4th quarter of the year, and we are on track to exceed our target of 50,000 units in 2014. We aim for further substantial growth next year, with NX representing about one-third of Lexus deliveries in Europe in its first full year of sales."

(*) Western Europe includes: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK