Photo: Catalin Garmacea
BMW brand U.S. sales went down this October by an average of 3.8 percent. Despite this, the Bavarian brand managed to widen its lead over its chief rival, Mercedes-Benz, over the last month, as surprising as that may sound.
Japanese manufacturer Lexus is gaining more and more traction in the U.S., posting an increase of 13 percent for last month, adding up to a total of 26,436 deliveries. The second step on the podium went to Mercedes-Benz with a sales rise of 1.3 percent, translating into a total of 28,952 units delivered. BMW stayed at the top with a drop of 3.8 percent in deliveries, as mentioned, and a total of 29,439 cars sold.
Things are getting tighter, though, because Lexus is seeing its sales grow at an alarming pace mostly due to its new RX SUV. Meanwhile, other brands are also experiencing wild increases regarding SUV sales, such as BMW, which saw its X3 model grow by 88 percent in the preferences of its customers.
This is mostly due to the current gas prices in the US as well as affordable credit and high used-car values that lead to more and more people picking up leases. Yes, more than 50 percent of the new cars sold are leased.
On a year-to-date basis, the situation is the same, with BMW leading over the first ten months of the year with a total of 279,395 sales in the U.S., while Mercedes-Benz comes in second with 278,842 units. As you can see, there was a difference of just 553 units between them by the end of October.
While the Munich-based brand grew 4.6 percent and the three-pointed star manufacturer is up 6.5 percent, Lexus is making up some serious ground on third place with an increase of 12 percent (273,881 units so far).
Therefore, the battle is still heated as we enter the last two months of the year. BMW has been holding on to the number one spot since 2011, after stealing the crown that Lexus had for the last 11 years before that. The only year that saw BMW lose the U.S. sales crown was 2013, but it quickly bounced back last year. Could the Japanese make such a drastic comeback? It's very likely from where we're sitting right now.
Things are getting tighter, though, because Lexus is seeing its sales grow at an alarming pace mostly due to its new RX SUV. Meanwhile, other brands are also experiencing wild increases regarding SUV sales, such as BMW, which saw its X3 model grow by 88 percent in the preferences of its customers.
This is mostly due to the current gas prices in the US as well as affordable credit and high used-car values that lead to more and more people picking up leases. Yes, more than 50 percent of the new cars sold are leased.
On a year-to-date basis, the situation is the same, with BMW leading over the first ten months of the year with a total of 279,395 sales in the U.S., while Mercedes-Benz comes in second with 278,842 units. As you can see, there was a difference of just 553 units between them by the end of October.
While the Munich-based brand grew 4.6 percent and the three-pointed star manufacturer is up 6.5 percent, Lexus is making up some serious ground on third place with an increase of 12 percent (273,881 units so far).
Therefore, the battle is still heated as we enter the last two months of the year. BMW has been holding on to the number one spot since 2011, after stealing the crown that Lexus had for the last 11 years before that. The only year that saw BMW lose the U.S. sales crown was 2013, but it quickly bounced back last year. Could the Japanese make such a drastic comeback? It's very likely from where we're sitting right now.
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