Aftermarket Leads: BMW Edges Mercedes-Benz as U.S. Luxury Sales Leader in 2011

Aftermarket Leads

January 5, 2012 11:05 pm

Te subscribiste a estas notificaciones por mail para los posts de este blog.
Si querés cambiar tu configuración o desubscribirte, por favor visitá:
?code=97e50233cb75341590d1d4edd2c2a857&addr=jihsin.news%40blogger.com&

BMW Edges Mercedes-Benz as U.S. Luxury Sales Leader in 2011

Just the Facts:

• BMW is the new luxury-car sales champ in the U.S., edging Mercedes-Benz.
• BMW also unseated Lexus, which held the top spot for 11 straight years.
• U.S. luxury brands Cadillac and Lincoln finished far behind the overseas brands.

DETROIT — It’s official. With the delayed release Thursday of year-end sales figures, BMW is the new luxury-car champ in the U.S., edging Mercedes-Benz and unseating Lexus, which had held the top spot for 11 straight years.

The final sales tally was 247,907 units for BMW and 245,231 units for Mercedes-Benz. Suffering from the lingering after-effects of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, Lexus finished a distant third, with 198,552 units.

Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs observed: “Neck-and-neck throughout much of 2011 for luxury car leadership, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, apparently fearing the other guy would cheat, were in a stubborn stand-off about releasing their final sales numbers Wednesday, the day the rest of the auto industry reported 2011 sales. Finally, Mercedes blinked and BMW followed suit with — surprise! — BMW winning the contest.”

Krebs added: “The competition was reminiscent of a similar battle years ago between General Motors’ Cadillac and Ford’s Lincoln for luxury car supremacy. Lincoln blinked, Cadillac claimed the win and Lincoln accused Cadillac of cheating. The following year, the race was close again and the results were submitted to a third-party at the Detroit auto show for simultaneous opening, a solution Edmunds.com offered Wednesday to Mercedes and BMW.

“These kinds of races are great fodder for journalists but in the end, don’t really mean much. Car buyers, especially of the luxury-car ilk, don’t go around bragging that they bought a vehicle from the automaker that was the best-selling luxury brand in America. In fact, in the luxury-car realm, less ubiquity might be more attractive to discerning buyers who want some exclusivity.”

According to historic sales figures from Automotive News, the U.S. luxury sales race was last won by Mercedes-Benz in 1999, with a total of 189,437 units. The year before, Lincoln captured the luxury crown, with sales of 187,121 units, while Cadillac took 1st place in 1997, with 182,624 units.

In 2011, both U.S. luxury brands fell behind their overseas counterparts. Cadillac sold 152,389 cars, up slightly from 2010, while Lincoln dipped slightly, to 85,633 units.

Inside Line says: Nothing like a meaningless sales race to liven up the new year.

Read more here:
BMW Edges Mercedes-Benz as U.S. Luxury Sales Leader in 2011