Americans bought more cars from Mercedes-Benz than from any other luxury automaker in the first quarter of 2021. The news knocks BMW off its perch atop the luxury car sales market, where it had stayed for two years.
Mercedes sales were up 16 percent from the first quarter of 2020 — a time when auto sales plummeted nationwide as the country went into pandemic-related lockdown. The GLE and GLC sport utility vehicles powered the sales surge.
Toyota’s Lexus division took second. Lexus sales jumped by 32 percent when compared to 2020 numbers. It happened, again, on the strength of SUV sales. The RX and NX SUVs made up more than a third of all Lexus sales last quarter.
BMW sales climbed 20 percent, with its X3 crossover showing the biggest improvement — a 41 percent increase. But that wasn’t enough to catch either Mercedes or Lexus. Audi came in fourth, with a 33 percent sales jump led by the Q5 SUV.
Tesla, we should note, publishes global sales numbers, but does not break out sales numbers by country, so it is not included in these calculations.
First-quarter results were strong across the board in the auto industry, but analysts warn that second-quarter sales are far more complicated to predict. An ongoing global microchip shortage could create supply problems, potentially pushing sales numbers down. Meanwhile, buyers will be shopping with additional cash in hand thanks to government stimulus programs, potentially raising sales.
