One Lexus Just Had a 120% Jump in Sales & It's Not the Model You'd Expect

Lexus just had its best June ever

Lexus reported 29,166 vehicles sold in June, up 3.9 percent year over year and enough for the brand's best-ever June. Lexus moved just 3,367 sedans and coupes in June, down 27.2 percent, and its passenger-car volume is off 39.2 percent for the year.

The ES fell 89.3 percent as it winds down ahead of a redesign; the flagship LS dropped 98.5 percent; and the RC coupe has all but left the building, with just 3 units sold.

The IS surges in June 2026

Lexus sold 2,888 copies of the IS in June, a 120.5 percent jump over the same month a year ago. The IS is up 42.7 percent for the year to date at 14,071 units. Here is how Lexus's cars stacked up for the month:

1. Lexus IS: 2,888
2. Lexus ES: 331
3. Lexus LC: 144
4. Lexus RC: 3
5. Lexus LS: 1

The IS now accounts for roughly 86 percent of every Lexus sedan and coupe sold, outselling the next-closest nameplate by nearly 9 to 1.

Why the IS is bucking the trend

The refresh IS dropped the entry-level turbo-four IS 300 and, more painfully for enthusiasts, the roughly 472-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 IS 500. What's left is a single powertrain, a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V6 good for 311 horsepower and 280 lb-ft, offered in IS 350 F Sport Design and F Sport trims. Starting price climbed about $5,000 to $46,795 with destination, nudging the IS into BMW 3 Series territory.

For the money you get a mild glow-up rather than a reinvention: a sharper nose, twin 12.3-inch displays, retuned steering and throttle response, and a nicer cabin, all still riding on a platform that dates to 2013. This is the IS's third facelift, not a new generation.

So why is it working? Because scarcity sells. The IS is now one of the last naturally aspirated, rear-wheel-drive-available, non-hybrid luxury sport sedans on the market, a formula that once defined the class and has quietly gone extinct as rivals pivot to turbocharged fours, plug-ins, and EVs.

What it means

The IS isn't carrying Lexus the way the Forester carries Subaru; that job belongs to the RX, which moved 9,836 units in June. What the IS is doing is keeping the brand's sedan story from going completely dark. In a month when electrified models made up nearly 40 percent of Lexus sales and the brand is leaning hard into hybrids and EVs, the one passenger car that's booming is the pure-gas throwback that Lexus arguably deprioritized.

That's the tension worth watching. Lexus is building its future around electrification and SUVs, yet the clearest sign of life on the car side is an aging V6 sedan that appeals precisely because it hasn't changed much. The IS is on a tear. The open question is how long Lexus wants to keep a 2013-era platform around to enjoy it.

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