Watch out, Audi! How Lexus staged a sales comeback in 2023 off the back of updated Lexus RX, NX and UX SUVs

Nobody likes being called a loser. And technically I didn’t call Lexus a “loser”, but I did highlight just how hard 2022 was for the Japanese brand in a story earlier this year. 

The cold, hard facts of the 2022 sales data were not good for Lexus. The brand’s sales dropped off nearly 25 per cent (23.7 per cent, to be precise) as it struggled to combat the combined challenges of a renewing model range and supply shortages.

Final sales data for the entirety of 2023 won’t be released until early January but it doesn’t matter, whichever way you look at it this year has been a resurgence for Lexus in Australia. Comparing sales to the end of November, it has almost doubled the amount of vehicles this year (14,048 v 7089).

But this isn’t a surprise, as there were some key factors in the ‘22 decline and reasons for optimism for ‘23 that we indicated in our original story. Namely, the impending arrival of new-generation RX and facelifted UX models, two of the brand’s most popular models.

In ‘22, sales of the RX large SUV were down nearly 30 per cent (29.1%) as the previous generation was run-out to make way for the new model. The arrival of the latest generation RX had the desired effect, with sales up a whopping 92.4 per cent, putting it ahead of some of its key competitors, including the Mercedes-Benz GLE wagon, Range Rover Sport, Volvo XC90 and Audi Q7.

The new UX managed to perform even better, recording a 103.9 per cent sales boost in ‘23, making it one of the most popular compact luxury SUVs in the country.

But while the success of the RX and UX makes a massive difference to Lexus’ bottom line, that’s only part of the story because every other notable model in the range enjoyed significant growth in ‘23. Which does speak to Lexus’ stance that its ‘22 sales freefall was deeply impacted by supply constraints.

The Toyota LandCruiser-based LX was up a whopping 252 per cent and even the mid-size NX SUV was up 114.5 per cent, despite already being the brand’s biggest seller. In fact, the NX was so popular this year Lexus only needs to sell 730 more in December for that one model to exceed its total ‘22 year sales.

Not only that, but the often-overlooked ES sedan also enjoyed a better year in ‘23, more than doubling its sales, while even the niche and expensive LC coupe was up 68.4 per cent; albeit still recording just 64 sales.

Lexus has comfortably overtaken Swedish rival Volvo in the sales charts, after slipping behind last year, and has closed the gap to Audi.

Whether or not these booming sales continue in 2024, only time will tell, but Lexus will need another massive year to make any significant improvements. Fortunately for the brand, it does have a significant new model to add to the range - the all-new GX. This is a luxurious version of the new-generation Toyota Prado and based on the evidence of how well the LX, RX, NX and UX performed in ‘23 it should be a popular new addition.