Lexus expects to set sales record this year

Lexus may be trailing its German rivals in the United States sales race, but the Japanese automaker announced on Monday that it expects to set a new global sales record this year.

Speaking at a lead up event to the Tokyo Motor Show, Mark Templin, executive vice president of Lexus International, said Toyota’s luxury division would finish 2013 “on the north side of 520,000” units. Lexus’ current high watermark, set in 2007, stands at 518,300 deliveries.

Templin added that sales should continue to grow in 2014 and beyond as Lexus adds new products like the recently introduced RC and a compact crossover based on the LF-NX concept.

“We’ve already come to surpass our 2007 number, even though the U.S. market hasn’t grown back yet,” Templin told Automotive News. “The biggest growth in sheer volume over the next few years is going to come from the U.S., just because the market is still growing back.”

Lexus expects to sell about 270,000 units in the U.S. this year, down from a high of 329,177 in 2007.

Lexus currently trails Mercedes-Benz and BMW in U.S. deliveries, but the automaker’s sale have increased by 12 percent to 213,479 vehicles through October.

Photo by Mark Elias.