BMW has widened its lead over Lexus in the race to become America’s best-selling luxury brand in 2026, reaching 287,154 U.S. vehicle sales through September. With one quarter remaining, BMW leads Lexus by 24,386 vehicles, while Mercedes-Benz has posted stronger third-quarter growth and Audi continues to lose ground amid a sharp decline in electric vehicle sales.
BMW’s sales increased 4.3% year over year through September, compared with 262,768 vehicles sold by Lexus. Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales reached 221,200 over the same period, while Audi’s U.S. sales fell 16% to 107,667. All BMW figures refer to the BMW brand alone and exclude MINI.
BMW Builds a 24,386-Vehicle Lead Over Lexus
BMW’s advantage over Lexus has expanded throughout 2026. Its lead stood at fewer than 3,300 vehicles after the first quarter before growing to 17,232 at the halfway point of the year. By the end of September, the gap had reached 24,386 vehicles.
During the third quarter, BMW sold 100,210 vehicles, an increase of 3.4% from a year earlier. Lexus delivered 93,056 vehicles, up 1.6%, according to Toyota Motor North America, leaving BMW ahead by 7,154 vehicles for the three-month period.
That quarterly margin was roughly half BMW’s advantage in the second quarter. Lexus gained ground with a strong September, when its sales climbed 11.4% to 29,837 vehicles.
The BMW X3 and X5 were the brand’s leading models during the third quarter, with sales of 22,457 and 22,213 vehicles, respectively. Combined, the two SUVs accounted for nearly 45% of BMW’s quarterly sales.
BMW’s nine-month lead has already surpassed its full-year winning margin in 2025, when it sold 388,897 vehicles compared with 370,260 for Lexus.
Mercedes-Benz Outpaces BMW’s Third-Quarter Growth
Mercedes-Benz recorded stronger percentage growth than BMW during the third quarter, even as its year-to-date sales remained below the previous year’s level. Mercedes-Benz USA sold 76,200 passenger cars during the quarter, an increase of 4%.
For the first nine months of 2026, however, Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales declined 1% to 221,200. That leaves the brand 65,954 vehicles behind BMW. Including the 27,500 vans Mercedes reports separately, the gap narrows to more than 38,000 vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz’s large sedans delivered some of its strongest results. According to the company’s third-quarter release, S-Class sales increased 47%, while E-Class sales rose 39%.
BMW’s comparable sedan models moved in the opposite direction during the same period. The 7 Series declined 10.1% to 2,539 vehicles, while the 5 Series fell 20.6% to 6,016.
Audi’s U.S. Sales Decline as EV Deliveries Plunge
Audi continues to fall further behind its luxury-brand rivals in the U.S. market. The automaker’s third-quarter sales dropped 15% to 39,751 vehicles, bringing its total for the first nine months of 2026 to 107,667, down 16% year over year.
The scale of BMW’s SUV sales highlights the difference between the two brands. The BMW X3 and X5 have combined for 123,895 sales this year, exceeding Audi’s entire U.S. lineup over the same period.
Audi’s electric vehicles account for more than the brand’s entire third-quarter sales decline. Q6 e-tron sales plunged to 619 vehicles from 10,059 a year earlier, while Q4 e-tron sales fell to just eight vehicles from 2,956.
The third quarter of 2025 was the final quarter of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, a factor cited in the year-over-year comparison. BMW experienced a similar decline with its iX, whose sales dropped to 121 vehicles from 3,136.
However, BMW had enough sales of gasoline-powered and plug-in hybrid SUVs to offset the decline in its electric vehicle deliveries, helping the brand maintain overall sales growth.
Can Lexus Overtake BMW Before the End of 2026?
Lexus faces a substantial challenge if it hopes to reclaim the title of America’s best-selling luxury brand this year. To overtake BMW, Lexus would need to outsell its German rival by more than 24,386 vehicles during the fourth quarter.
Lexus has not outsold BMW in any individual quarter so far in 2026. That record leaves the Japanese luxury brand needing a significant sales surge in the final three months of the year to close the gap.
BMW sold approximately 113,500 vehicles during the fourth quarter of 2025. If it matches that total in the final quarter of 2026, Lexus would need to sell nearly 138,000 vehicles in three months to surpass BMW for the year.
That would be nearly 45,000 more vehicles than Lexus sold during the third quarter, underscoring the scale of the challenge facing the brand as BMW enters the final stretch of the 2026 U.S. luxury sales race with a commanding lead.
