Strength of its SUVs, 7 Series sedan gives BMW lead in U.S. luxury sales
Mercedes- Benz deliveries in the U. S. declined 13 per cent in November, allowing BMW to widen its lead in the annual luxury sales race.
Mercedes s al es f el l to 30,043, with overall car sales dropping 20 per cent as consumer tastes shift from luxury sedans to car- based sport utility vehicles. Sales at BMW rose 3.2 per cent to 32,003, as deliveries of the X3 more than doubled. Lexus gained 6.8 per cent to a November record of 29,340, helped by its revamped RX. Mercedes SUV sales slipped two per cent last month.
BMW has been able to withstand the shift from cars to SUVs better than the other top brands. With sales of the redesigned flagship 7 Series jumping 48 per cent in November to 1,045 and deliveries of the four-door 4 Series Gran Coupe tripling this year, the brand has had balanced growth in 2015; car sales are up 4.3 per cent and SUV are sales are up 4.7 per cent.
“The all- new 7 Series did very well in its first full month of sales but there’s no question the trend is toward light trucks,” said Ludwig Willisch, BMW of North America chief executive. Improving avail- ability of BMW SUVs “gave a nice boost to our overall sales in November,” he said.
The results exclude BMW’s Mini vehicles and Mercedes’ work trucks and Smart cars, which aren’t luxury vehicles.
Lexus, which hasn’t claimed the sales crown since 2010, boosted average incentives 19 per cent last month as it started year-end promotions early, according to TrueCar estimates. It wasn’t enough to gain on BMW, which TrueCar said reduced its spending 3.6 per cent from a year earlier, while Mercedes trimmed its discounts 7.4 per cent. Lexus still spent less per vehicle than its rivals.
BM W, which won the 2014 title, through October was ahead by 533 over Mercedes and about 5,500 over Lexus. The November sales increased BMW’s lead over Lexus to more than 8,000 and by 2,513 against Mercedes.
Lexus, like its luxury competitors, enjoyed a surge in SUV sales in November, but its car deliveries slid 17 per cent because models such as the IS sedan have gone too long without being refreshed with new technology, said Eric Lyman, a TrueCar vice-president.