While a recount is still possible,  German luxury carmaker BMW appears to have claimed the US luxury sales crown much to the delights of its marketing and advertising executives.  BMW finally reported a 15.3 percent sales increase for December thanks to the deft use of an incentive campaign that actually started in early November.  Sales of BMW  brand vehicles totaled 26,834 last month, compared to 23,280 vehicles sold in December, 2010.
 For the year, BMW brand sales were up 12.6 percent  to 247,907 vehicles compared to 220,113 sold 2010.
 Mercedes Benz, on the other hand, reported total salses of 245,192, following a 28 percent sales increase in December when sales totaled 27,943 once Mayback sales subtracted. BMW withheld its results to the very last minute to insure its victory, posting only after Mercedes-Benz had made it results public. After the day-long delay in releasing sales figures no executive at either BMW or Mercedes-Benz will ever again be alllowed to say they don’t care about the US sales title.
 Meanwhile, Lexus, the topo selling luxury brand in the US for 10 consecutive years, is vowing to get back into the fight next year and blamed its slide on the production difficulties created by the devastating earth quake in Japan last March. Marc Templin, the top executive at Lexus in the US, said a combination of new products and steady inventory will help Lexus to take aim at the number one spot. By Joseph Szczesny