Photo: MB USA
About a decade or so ago, Mercedes-Benz made a rather strange bet, vouching to increase its presence in the SUV and crossover market when everyone else was already discussing ways to decrease their carbon footprint by investing in hybrid vehicles.
The Stuttgart carmaker did both, actually, since most of the models in its SUV lineup are beginning to offer hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions as well. As it happens, Mercedes-Benz has already started to cash in on its SUV bet, although it kind of depends on the market.
In this example, the carmaker is now outselling is biggest rivals in the U.S. luxury sales market mainly thanks to an increased demand for SUVs and crossovers. While overall deliveries during the month of May were 1 percent lower than the same month in 2015, the GLK and the new GLC posted a 64 percent increase.
This helped MB USA slide past BMW and Lexus, which both experienced lower sales compared to the same period in 2015. Sure, low gas prices and low unemployment rates are also to “blame” for the increase in SUV sales, but the Mercedes-Benz offer in this segment is so vast and fresh that it managed to counteract the overall market slowdown compared to its main rivals.
During the month of May, MB USA managed to sell 29,299 vehicles, BMW USA sold 29,017 cars, while Lexus only delivered 26,682 vehicles, despite an increase of 10 percent increase in RX sales. To be fair, Lexus is still recovering from delayed production issues that happened because of earthquakes that hit Japan back in April.
Even so, the high demand for luxury SUVs and crossovers and Mercedes' generous offer in this segments made the carmaker expand its January-to-date U.S. luxury sales lead over both Lexus and BMW, who fell to third place after winning the 2015 sales crown.
Mercedes' next bet involves a massive increase in its offer of convertibles, with the U.S. set to receive the S-Class and C-Class Cabriolet, and the SL and SLC Roadsters in the next couple of months, along with the semi-autonomous E-Class.
In this example, the carmaker is now outselling is biggest rivals in the U.S. luxury sales market mainly thanks to an increased demand for SUVs and crossovers. While overall deliveries during the month of May were 1 percent lower than the same month in 2015, the GLK and the new GLC posted a 64 percent increase.
This helped MB USA slide past BMW and Lexus, which both experienced lower sales compared to the same period in 2015. Sure, low gas prices and low unemployment rates are also to “blame” for the increase in SUV sales, but the Mercedes-Benz offer in this segment is so vast and fresh that it managed to counteract the overall market slowdown compared to its main rivals.
During the month of May, MB USA managed to sell 29,299 vehicles, BMW USA sold 29,017 cars, while Lexus only delivered 26,682 vehicles, despite an increase of 10 percent increase in RX sales. To be fair, Lexus is still recovering from delayed production issues that happened because of earthquakes that hit Japan back in April.
Even so, the high demand for luxury SUVs and crossovers and Mercedes' generous offer in this segments made the carmaker expand its January-to-date U.S. luxury sales lead over both Lexus and BMW, who fell to third place after winning the 2015 sales crown.
Mercedes' next bet involves a massive increase in its offer of convertibles, with the U.S. set to receive the S-Class and C-Class Cabriolet, and the SL and SLC Roadsters in the next couple of months, along with the semi-autonomous E-Class.
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