The BMW brand’s lead over Lexus has grown every quarter of 2026, while Audi’s US sales are down 16 percent to 107,667 through September. BMW sold 287,154 vehicles in the US through September, 4.3 percent more than a year ago, while Lexus stands at 262,768 with one quarter of 2026 left to go. Mercedes-Benz grew faster than both in the third quarter, up 4 percent, but it’s even further back at 221,200 passenger cars.
That gives BMW a 24,386-vehicle lead in the race to be America’s best-selling luxury brand, up from fewer than 3,300 after the first quarter and 17,232 at the halfway point. All of these figures cover the BMW brand alone, without MINI.
How Big Is BMW’s Lead Over Lexus After Nine Months?
In the third quarter alone, BMW sold 100,210 vehicles, up 3.4 percent, while Lexus sold 93,056, up 1.6 percent, according to Toyota Motor North America. That 7,154-vehicle margin is about half of what BMW managed in the second quarter (see our first-half report). Part of the reason is a strong September for Lexus, when its sales rose 11.4 percent to 29,837.
The X3 and X5 carried BMW, at 22,457 and 22,213 units respectively, or nearly 45 percent of the brand’s quarter. Our model-by-model breakdown has the rest. BMW’s nine-month lead is already bigger than its winning margin for all of 2025, when it beat Lexus 388,897 to 370,260.
Mercedes Grew Faster Than BMW In The Third Quarter
Mercedes-Benz USA sold 76,200 passenger cars in the third quarter, up 4 percent, slightly ahead of BMW’s growth rate. Over nine months, though, it’s down 1 percent at 221,200. That leaves it 65,954 behind BMW, or more than 38,000 behind if you add the 27,500 vans Mercedes reports separately.
The big sedans are where Mercedes has the momentum. According to its third-quarter release, S-Class sales rose 47 percent and E-Class sales climbed 39 percent. Over the same three months, BMW’s 7 Series fell 10.1 percent to 2,539 units and the 5 Series dropped 20.6 percent to 6,016.
Audi Keeps Losing Ground As Its EV Sales Collapse
Audi’s US sales fell 15 percent in the third quarter to 39,751 and are down 16 percent for the year at 107,667. The X3 and X5 together have found 123,895 buyers this year, which is more than Audi’s entire US lineup.
Electric cars account for more than Audi’s entire third-quarter drop. The Q6 e-tron went from 10,059 sales a year ago to 619, and the Q4 e-tron went from 2,956 to eight. The reason is that Q3 2025 was the final quarter of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. BMW’s iX took the same hit, falling from 3,136 units to 121, but BMW had enough gas and plug-in hybrid SUVs to cover the loss.
Can Lexus Still Catch BMW Before The Year Ends?
To take the title, Lexus would need to outsell BMW by more than 24,386 vehicles in the fourth quarter. It hasn’t outsold BMW in a single quarter this year. BMW sold about 113,500 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2025. If it matches that, Lexus would need close to 138,000 sales in three months, nearly 45,000 more than it managed in the third quarter.
