Southfield:  Toyota Motor Corporation said sales of its luxury Lexus brand rose 29 per cent in April, maintaining the brand's narrow lead in the luxury sales race this year over Daimler's Mercedes-Benz division.

Lexus's sold 18,359 vehicles in April, pushing its four-month total to 67,882 cars and trucks, up 21 per cent from the same months last year.

Daimler said Mercedes sales rose 22 per cent to 17,628 in April, and BMW's namesake brand posted a 10 per cent sales increase to 17,268.

Luxury sales continue to keep pace with the market, said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst with Edmunds.com, the car-shopping site. Most of the major competitors also cut incentive spending, a sign that Americans are returning to the high-end market, Caldwell said.

"We say we're being more pragmatic, but consumers still want luxury cars," said Caldwell, who is based in a Santa Monica, California, "The numbers don't lie."

Lexus got its biggest sales volume gains from its RX350 and related SUVs, ES350 mid-sized sedan and HS hybrid that went on sale in September.

Mercedes benefited as sales of its redesigned E-class sedan more than doubled to 4,528 cars.

Mercedes has sold 66,857 cars and SUVs this year, 1,025 vehicles fewer than Lexus.

BMW is phasing out its 5-series sedan that competes for buyers with the E-class in preparation for the launch of a redesigned version of the car in June, said Jim O'Donnell, president of BMW North America. Sales of the 5-Series fell 52 per cent to 2,067 in April, down 52 per cent from last year. "If you look at the competition, it looks like we're lagging behind," O'Donnell said in a tele-phone interview.

Toyota incentives rise

Toyota Motor Corporation, the world's largest carmaker, increased discounts in April by 20 per cent from a year ago, which helped to boost US sales by 24 per cent.

Toyota's incentives last month of $1,945 (Dh7,142) per vehicle narrowed the gap with the industry average of $2,702, according to researcher Autodata Corporation. It was the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker's second month of greater-than-usual incentives, including offers on the top-selling Camry and Corolla sedans.

Carmakers decreased their spending on incentives by $231, or 8 per cent, in April as industry-wide sales rose 20 per cent from a year earlier, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata said.