In the third quarter of this year, about 19% of luxury car shoppers considered buying a BMW. Just one-tenth of 1% fewer looked at buying a Lexus. That’s big news.
Kelley Blue Book’s quarterly Brand Watch report is a consumer perception survey that also weaves in consumer shopping behavior to determine how a brand or model stacks up with its segment competitors on a dozen factors key to consumers’ buying decisions. We publish separate reports for the luxury and non-luxury markets.
Toyota narrowly beat out Ford in the non-luxury category.
BMW has held a lead in the luxury brand study every quarter for more than four years. But between July and September, the two marques were functionally tied. BMW fell from 23% in the second quarter to just 19% in the third.
Mercedes, Audi, and Tesla rounded out the top five.
The changes come as a worldwide shortage of microchips has slowed car production worldwide, leaving most car dealerships struggling to find enough cars to sell. But that factor alone doesn’t explain the changes.
The inventory crunch has hurt both BMW and Lexus, but Lexus dealers found themselves with the lowest inventory of cars to sell among luxury automakers in the third quarter.
More Than 2/3 Considered an SUV…and Rarely a European One
Of all luxury vehicle shoppers, 69% considered an SUV. Just 49% considered a car (there is significant overlap because some shoppers look at both options before deciding).
That news may not be surprising, as SUV sales have outpaced car and truck sales in America in recent years. But one factor does seem surprising – there is not a single European design amongst the top five SUVs.
The Lexus RX, Acura MDX, Buick Enclave, Tesla Model Y, and Cadillac XT5 were the most popular models to earn a look.
Lexus Earns Top Marks in Several Factors That Drive Consideration
The five factors luxury car shoppers were most likely to consider in their purchase were reliability, safety, comfort, performance, and reputation. Shoppers who rated safety as their most important consideration were most likely to consider a Volvo. Shoppers who prioritized performance preferred Cadillac.
Who won for reliability, comfort, and reputation? Lexus, Lexus, and Lexus.
Top 10 Most Considered Luxury Vehicles (including ties):
(tie) Tesla Model Y
(tie) Mercedes-Benz E-Class
(tie) Buick Encore
