- 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.
Add A Comment »
kkear3 says:
06:07 AM, 01/07/2012
It's not that Lincoln and Caddy build bad cars, they just have bad dealers. ALL modern Lincolns can be purchased as a far less expensive Ford product and the only Caddy that matters is the CTS series and you cannot build a brand around just one model.
So sad.
godawgsgo04 says:
11:49 AM, 01/06/2012
First off neither BMW or MB is "Worth" their sticker price. I have owned both and they are Turrible (think of Charles Barkley's pronunciation-ha)...
I just bought the new 2012 Grand Cherokee Overland Edition (the one you see in the commercials) $39K and it blows away the competition.
Oh and my last Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited lasted over 220K miles. My Mercedes Benz GL 350 could not go 5K miles without some love from the Neighborhood Dealer.
Hope this helps!
Happy New Year!
theinsurgent says:
11:10 AM, 01/06/2012
Old news Rex.
rex21 says:
10:43 AM, 01/06/2012
http://www.teamster.org/content/senator-boxer-bmw-dont-destroy-california-jobs
check this out, bmw borrowed a secret loan from the fed....
rex21 says:
10:40 AM, 01/06/2012
that's right, everybody knows not to purchase but to "lease a bmw". that's how bad it is...
aston_dbs says:
07:43 AM, 01/06/2012
How many is actually just BMW leases? 70%? 80%?
They have many attractive leases, but too bad I just can't find any of their vehicles that 'wow' me...
gtrguy2012 says:
11:16 PM, 01/05/2012
Well for starters, the X3 is daylights better than a GLK. I've driven both and the X3 feels like its worth the price and in this segment.
cr_driver says:
06:16 PM, 01/05/2012
"When BMW finally starts building minivans and pickups they will win this competition every year ."
Just wait for the plethora of FWD more affordable BMW`s that are coming.
blackdynamite1 says:
04:58 PM, 01/05/2012
This sales race was so meaningless, these two companies hid their numbers in a petty stand-off for U.S. supremacy.
We'll see how meaningless it is when BMW mentions the win in their ads for the next year.....
BD
_pioneer_ says:
02:12 PM, 01/05/2012
How the hell does Lincoln move 85,633 vehicles a year?