Lexus Is Taking 35,000 Cars From Other Markets to Sell in the U.S.

Luxury Competition

Lexus is one of the top-selling luxury marques in the world and has quickly become a benchmark for the segment. 2025 was a particularly strong year for them, when it sold about 882,000 cars worldwide, which represented a 4% increase over 2024. It stands as the Japanese automaker’s best-selling year.

With a volatile buying market, 2026 paints a different picture. People have slowed on luxury purchases. Lexus points to a slowdown in sales, particularly in Q3 and Q4 of 2026, but has a plan in the meantime.

U.S. Gets Global Inventory

In a report by Automotive News, the luxury brand has decided to shift its strategy for the tail end of 2026. The report says that 35,000 cars destined for global markets have been redirected instead to the U.S. dealer network to supply the growing demand in North America. Lexus’ biggest market is still North America, accounting for the majority of its sales.

The report details that this was done to protect the brand’s record sales performance while also shifting back to propping up its core models after a slew of new model launches. Lexus dealers have been asking for more inventory, with the struggling supply as the main reason for Lexus’ 2.9% drop in September. Lexus secured the fresh 35,000 units from China and the Middle East, which are slowing in terms of sales for the rest of the year.

DeJuan Ross, group vice president and general manager of the Lexus Division at Toyota Motor North America, told Automotive News that about 90% of what the 246 U.S. dealers will sell will be all-new or refreshed over the next 18 months. To also bolster confidence, the dealers will also get a sneak peek at the brand’s replacement for the aging and slow-selling UX crossover. “Reinvesting in the core and refreshing those core products at a more regular cadence will be well received by the dealers.” Said Ross. Lexus has recently updated the NX and ES sedan, with a planned upgrade also slated for the top-selling RX and the TX; there is also the expectation of the arrival of the new 3-row EV TZ crossover for next year.

Century and GR Future

Another interesting aspect of the report details the upcoming retail future of the Century and GR brand in the U.S. Select dealerships will soon begin sales of the new GR GT and GT3 cars towards the end of 2027. Ross says that around 100 dealers have been selected to participate as retail hubs for the GR GT cars. These dealerships sent representatives overseas to be trained to deal and represent the new high-performance cars, with Ross also saying they expect nationwide sales of the GR GT models to be 250 to 300 units for the first year. Meanwhile, the ultra-luxury Century-branded cars are set to arrive in the U.S. sometime in 2028, with the dealer list being much smaller compared to the GR GT group.