Lexus is powerful and sophisticated right from its debut in 1989. Lexus has successfully rivaled German luxury carmakers in the United States. In 1992, Lexus outsold Mercedes and BMW to become the number one luxury import and thus changing the luxury statement. According to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper there are three Lexus models whose sales are currently about 60 percent lower than the company's targets. In the first six months of 2006, Toyota sold 150,000 Lexus cars in America up six percent over the same period in 2005. However the sales ratio in Japan was a disappointing as only11,000 units during the same period, despite a recovering Japanese economy. Sales have been hurt partly by a large recall over defective seat belts, and delays related to the new LS sedan.
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