According to a new report, the Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's line up has closed the gap with Lexus model from Toyota Motors to compete for the top spot as this year’s top-selling luxury automobile brand in the US.

Lexus has been leading the US markets but rivals Mercedes and BMW have closed the gap. The sales of Mercedes models rose 17 per cent to 19,862, according ot a company statement. The strong results come after a three month win streak for BMW and it also halved the lead of Lexus for the year.

Ernst Lieb, chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz USA said that the company will continue to grow in the same manner as it has for the first nine months and it aims to see a two digit growth in the year. Mercedes sales rose 18 per cent to 159,729 so far this year, while BMW deliveries are up 9.2 per cent to 157,464.

The deliveries of BMW’s namesake brands rose 21 per cent to 18,228 compared to September 2009, the company said in a statement yesterday. Meanwhile, eh ales of Lexus fell 6 per cent last month to 16,948.

Toyota said in a statement that its luxury cars and SUVs sales in the first nine months of this year rose 9.2 increase to 162,438. The company now has a narrow lead in the market it has dominated since 2000.