No doubt.
When the Japanese luxury brands started to get taken seriously in North America in the early 2000, the food chain went as this :
_ Domestic products.
_ Japanese "regular" brands (Honda, Toyota, Nissan)
_ Japanese "wannabe" luxury brands (Lexus, Infiniti, Acura)
_ Anything European, preferably Swedish or German.
I haven't been monitoring the North American market since I don't live there anymore, but the German Automobile always represented the top of the line in terms of image and status.
The fact that BMW lags behind Lexus in my view would tend to confirm that the trend is still current.
Who, me ?