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Luxury car brands scrambling to avoid a blue Christmas

DETROIT — When financial markets surge to new records, sales of luxury cars usually rise, too. Instead, October U.S. auto sales reports on Wednesday showed that a collapse in sales of luxury sedans is accelerating. Consumers have gradually shifted over to luxury sport utility vehicles from sedans in the past decade, but the trend — which has occurred in both the non-luxury and luxury sedan segments of the auto market — was particularly pronounced in October. Sales of Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz S-Class, long a global benchmark for large, premium sedans, plunged 49 percent in October, and are down 24.8 percent for the year to date. General Motors' Cadillac brand said it sold just 779 of its CTS sedans in October. Demand for that car, designed to compete with German luxury sedans, is down nearly 33 percent for the year. "There's still a significant portion of the market that wants a car, but I'm sure there were people who preferred a horse to a car at one point." Cadillac's best-selling model this year is the XT5 compact SUV, which has more than doubled sales from a year ago. The shift within the luxury vehicle market away from sedans toward SUVs of all sizes is forcing some of the most prestigious brands to scramble to add SUV models to their lineups or boost SUV production to meet demand. "In the short term, there will be pressure to add (consumer) incentives, cut production or both," said Cox Automotive analyst Michelle Krebs. "And we just don't see an end in sight to this trend." The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been trading at all-time highs, usually a good sign for luxury sedans, but as major automakers reported new U.S. vehicle sales for October on Wednesday, sales for passenger cars continued their slide while luxury SUV and crossover sales rose again. According to Kelley Blue Book data, in 2007 luxury sedans made up 7.6 percent of U.S. new vehicle sales, while luxury SUVs made up 4.2 percent. Through September this year, luxury SUVs made up just over 7 percent of the market, compared with 4.9 percent for luxury sedans. In the short term, luxury brands could use holiday season sales promotions to clear slow-selling sedans off dealer lots, analysts said. Toyota's Lexus brand said on Wednesday it will launch its "December to Remember" year-end sales promotion for the 18th straight year.

We'll see the next Lexus LS debut in Detroit this January

Lexus announced today that the next-generation LS luxury sedan will make its official debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January. A fitting venue considering the original LS sedan made its debut there way back in 1989. Lexus didn't reveal much about the new flagship other than the teaser photo above. The company says that the LS will use a lengthened version of the LC 500 coupe's chassis, which should be a good thing if it also means Lexus can give the LS even a little bit of the emotion and character we found in the LC. Since the LS will share chassis design with the LC, it will probably share powertrains, too. This means it could get the both the LC 500's 471-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 coupled to a 10-speed auto, and the 354-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 hybrid unit with its 4-speed automatic from the LC 500h. As for styling, the LS will probably look like a toned-down version of the LF-FC concept. Lexus describes the car as having a "coupe-like silhouette." Spy shots of the big four-door seem to show a relatively conventional sedan body with a rakish windshield. We'll reserve final judgement for when we see the uncovered car. The 2017 North American International Auto Show will be a big one for Toyota. In addition to revealing this new Lexus flagship, the company will unveil the completely redesigned Camry. Based on the teaser shot released last week, this new Camry will likely be a significant departure from the conservative machine we know now. We'll be sure to bring you all the details on both models when they're released in January. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2013 Lexus LS460 F-Sport AWD

Gary Approved
There's a guy that goes to my gym who can't get enough of the Lexus LS - let's call him Gary. Gary's the guy - you've probably got one at your gym, or coffee shop, or some other public but quasi-social location - who talks to everyone he meets. Sit next to him on the rowing machine or run by him on the track, and he's almost certainly going to bend your ear for a minute or 20. Gary is in his mid-60s, a business owner, and the super-proud owner of a 2013 Lexus LS.
Not being a shy man, Gary will be the first one to tell you that he didn't do much comparative shopping (he "drove by" the BMW dealership, and looked at a 7 Series "on the computer"). Being a satisfied former owner of multiple Lexus RXs, there was probably only a tiny statistical chance that Gary wouldn't end up in an LS when it came time for him to treat himself to the tricked out luxury car that he'd wanted for a long time. Still, when I found myself chatting with Gary about his new LS, right after I had spent a wintry week in the 2013 LS460 F-Sport AWD, I figured that he'd have some light to shed on the car.