Lexus slumped along with pretty much every other automaker during the worst parts of the recent recession, but also had to deal with serious blows to its reputation because of a series of recalls for everything from the unintended-acceleration issues facing multiple Toyota models, to fuel leaks and increased risk of rollover. And while the brand has recently been recovering from these setbacks, its rate of pickup is not as fast as that of another household name in the luxury market: Mercedes-Benz. According to Bloomberg:
"In the first half of this year, U.S. deliveries of the Japanese brand grew 19 percent to 107,430, while Mercedes-Benz jumped 25 percent to 106,972."

Industry analysts quoted in the article go on to say that the full impact of the recalls has yet to manifest, and that the second half of the year is when Mercedes-Benz could realistically take over the top-seller spot from Lexus.

Of course, there's more to the story than Lexus' woes. Mercedes has been rolling out head-turning redesigns of its most popular models, such as the C-Class, above, as well as the more top-tier vehicles such as the CL63 AMG.