Manyt Japanese and German luxury imports, perhaps benefiting from customer excitement created by zero percent financing available from the American Big Three and some other automakers including Toyota, set sales records in November. The luxury imports showed particularly strong sales figures during the month. Acura set a new November sales record, up 5.8 percent to 13,645 vehicles, breaking the previous record of 12,902 set in 2000. Year-to-date sales are up 20.7 percent to 155,806. U.S. sales for Honda Motor Co. were up 11.5 percent from November 2000, setting a record for the month. South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. reported its tenth consecutive record sales month with 27,299 units, a 53 percent increase in sales over November 2000. Thanks to the all-new ES 300, Lexus had its best-ever November with total sales of 19,653, a 9.9 percent increase from November 2000. For the year, Lexus sales of 201,780 are 9.1 percent ahead of the 2000 sales pace, and Lexus is well on its way to a record year for 2001. Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) reported its all-time best November on record with sales of 18,014 vehicles during November 2001, up 11.4 percent from the November 2000 sales of 16,175. On a year-to-date basis, the company recorded an increase of total sales to 186,562 vehicles, versus 185,308 during the comparable period last year (up 0.7 percent). Mitsubishi Motors Corp. reported its best U.S. sales month in history with total vehicle sales of 33,060 rising 27 percent above those during November 2000. Subaru of America, Inc. has also announced record November sales. Subaru sold a total of 16,122 units in November, representing an increase of 13 percent from the same period last year. The November total represents the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases for the Subaru brand. American Suzuki Motor Corp. marked its highest November sales in company history, selling 5,176 vehicles for the month, a 41 percent sales increase over November 2000, breaking sales records for the second month in a row. ASMC's year-to-date sales totaled 60,781 units, an 8 percent increase over the same period in 2000. Toyota Motor Corp. reported a record November with a 9.7 percent rise in its sales. German automaker Volkswagen AG reported its best November sales in 28 years with a 3.2 percent increase over November 2000. Volvo Cars of North America, LLC reports that it remains ahead of its record sales pace established in year 2000. The 7,465 units sold represents a decrease compared to last November, yet VCNA's record of 131,836 units is well within reach by year-end, according to company officials.