Lexus has pipped rival Mercedes-Benz as the top 2010 luxury brand in terms of sales after the first quarter. Lexus has recorded a 42 percent rise in sales as compared to the 28 percent increase of Mercedes.

Lexus has sold 20,219 vehicles last month and 49,523 in the first quarter. In comparison, Mercedes has sold 20,023 vehicles in March and a total of 49,229 in the first three months of 2010.

Toyota’s Lexus brand has gained primarily from the redesigned GX mid-sized SUV whose sales tripled. Also, the number of RX SUVs rose by 31 percent and that of the IS model by 29 percent.

The Mercedes E class sales doubled on the other hand while its most popular C class cars rose 20 percent in sales. During the first two months of this year, Mercedes was above rivals like Lexus and BMW in sales. At the end of the first quarter, BMW finished at 46,323.

The luxury car sales rose to 24 percent in March, after a dip in the recession affected 2009. “We’re not holding back,” Ernst Lieb, CEO of the Mercedes brand’s U.S. unit. “We have newer products than some of our competitors. We’re going after whatever we can get.”

BMW has also expressed its desire to surpass Lexus for the no. 1 rank in the US by 2012.

via autonews