Through nine months, it’s a tight race to the finish line to see which luxury brand ends up number one in sales. TrueCar.com, the authority on new car pricing, trends and forecasts, today released its findings comparing sales and incentive spending through September versus the same time period in 2009 and discovered that most luxury brands gained traction in 2010 while decreasing their incentive spending above the industry average.

More than half of the thirteen major luxury brands increased sales by over 20 percent in 2010 while 10 of the 13 brands decreased their incentive spending. Cadillac had a surge in sales with an increase of 43.8 percent while decreasing their average incentive spending by 13.8 percent. Among the Japanese luxury brands, Acura increased sales by 25.8 percent, but also saw their incentive spend rise 12.9 percent. Audi and Porsche have been the strongest European brand performers this year, increasing sales among European luxury brands by 23.6 percent, while decreasing incentives by 16.8 percent and 45.4 percent, respectively.

Below is a chart comparing luxury brands and their incentive spending through September vs. the same nine months last year:

Sales/Incentives Comparison Year To Date (In Order By Sales Increase)

January 2009 – September 2009 vs. January 2010 – September 2010

Brands 1/09 - 9/09 Sales 1/10 - 9/10 Sales Sales Change YTD 09 v 10 1/09 – 9/09 Avg. Incent Spend 1/10 –9/10 Avg. Incent Spend Avg. Incent Spend Chg YTD 09v10 1/09-9/09 Net Trans Price 1/10 - 9/10 Net Trans Price Change YTD 09vChange YTD 10 Cadillac 73,024 105,103 43.8% $5,362 $4,620 -13.8% $48,875 $48,312 -1.2% Acura 76,628 96,388 25.8% $2,315 $2,614 12.9% $35,045 $37,538 7.1% Infiniti 59,886 74,797 24.9% $5,272 $5,111 -3.1% $41,312 $42,334 2.5% Audi 59,518 73,590 23.6% $3,520 $2,928 -16.8% $42,138 $43,668 3.6% Porsche 14,310 17,690 23.6% $4,672 $2,552 -45.4% $76,078 $84,650 11.3% MBZ 135,464 165,363 22.1% $5,189 $3,527 -32.0% $45,814 $48,382 5.6% Land Rover 18,385 22,289 21.2% $5,430 $2,323 -57.2% $57,427 $68,892 20.0% Jaguar 8,674 9,748 12.4% $5,798 $3,688 -36.4% $53,434 $67,562 26.4% Lexus 149,408 163,184 9.2% $1,827 $1,736 -5.0% $40,719 $42,902 5.4% BMW 144,223 157,464 9.2% $4,959 $3,701 -25.4% $51,274 $52,083 1.6% Lincoln 59,236 63,286 6.8% $5,292 $5,170 -2.3% $37,911 $43,074 13.6% Volvo 46,729 41,118 -12.0% $4,540 $5,248 15.6% $32,372 $35,671 10.2% Saab 6,928 3,233 -53.3% $4,686 $6,356 35.6% $37,744 $34,206 -9.4% INDUSTRY 7,802,883 8,613,751 10.4% $2,807 $2,768 -1.4% $27,075 $28,706 6.0%

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