Tesla Model 3 = #1 Luxury Car In USA

April 6th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

In the first quarter of 2019, the Tesla Model 3 was again the #1 top selling car in the US luxury car market. It was far and away the winner. It was actually #13 in the overall US car market, and no other premium-class car even made the top 20.

The Tesla Model 3 accounted for 16% of sales in the small + midsize luxury car markets. That’s 16% of both markets combined.

As Tesla indicated in its quarterly production and delivery report, the Model 3 had approximately 60% more deliveries than the #2 car in the market, which would be the Mercedes C-Class.

If you combine all of the models by brand for these segments, Tesla (which only has the Model 3) drops to #3. Again, it accounted for 16% the small + midsize luxury car market, whereas the Mercedes C-Class + CLA-Class + CLS-Class + E-Class accounted for 20% of the market and the BMW 2 Series + 3 Series + 4 Series + 5 Series accounted for 18% of the market.

I guess it depends on one’s expectations whether all of this is a win for Tesla or not, but there’s no denying that it’s a big deal for a single model to take 16% of the market (or two markets combined), especially when that model comes from a young company that just started mass producing the vehicle a few quarters ago.

Mercedes, BMW, and Audi certainly aren’t dying, but there’s a new big shot in town. Additionally, Mercedes, BWM, and Audi sales are all down in the USA compared to last year, indicating that they are bleeding a bit.

To see how sales of all of these models have changed over time in the past 15 months, check out the next two charts — just be sure to click the little balls at the top of the charts to move from one quarter to the next.

There are more ways to play with the numbers in order to put Tesla’s first quarter performance into perspective, but I think that’s enough for this piece.

Aside from this article focused on the Tesla Model 3 versus its small and midsized luxury class competitors, I’ve also published articles about the Model 3’s place among the top selling cars in the USA and Tesla’s overall position in the luxury car market and luxury vehicle market in the USA.

Model Q1 2019 January February March Tesla Model 3 (est.) 24,003 5,000 5,500 13,503 Acura RLX 381 119 127 135 Acura TLX 7,029 1,669 2,219 3,141 Alfa Romeo Giulia 2,035 531 646 858 Audi A3 2,669 664 823 1,182 Audi A4 5,779 1,691 1,436 2,652 Audi A5 5,478 1,651 1,603 2,224 Audi A6 5,358 1,889 1,506 1,963 BMW 2 Series 2,062 578 738 746 BMW 3 Series 8,225 1,226 2,379 4,620 BMW 4 Series 7,402 2,842 2,685 1,875 BMW 5 Series 10,345 3,679 2,976 3,690 Infiniti Q50 8,264 2,249 2,230 3,785 Infiniti Q60 1,304 406 327 571 Infiniti Q70 962 235 269 458 Lexus ES 11,390 3,144 3,324 4,922 Lexus GS 955 298 263 394 Lexus IS 3,884 1,075 1,115 1,694 Lexus RC 963 262 279 422 Mercedes C-Class 15,002 4,676 4,812 5,514 Mercedes CLA-Class 5,210 2,278 1,566 1,366 Mercedes E/CLS-Class 10,394 3,258 3,424 3,712 Volvo 60 Series 3,959 1,400 1,058 1,501 Volvo 90 Series 1,227 514 367 346

US Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales Q1 2019 Sales Segment Share Tesla Model 3 (est.) 24,003 16% Mercedes C/CLA/CLS/E-Class 30,606 20% BMW 2+3+4+5 Series 28,034 18% Lexus ES + IS + GS + RC 17,192 11% Audi A3+A4+A5+A6 19,284 13% Infiniti Q50 + Q60 + Q70 10,530 7% Acura TLX + RLX 7,410 5% Buick Cascada + Regal + Lacrosse 7,056 5% Lincoln MKZ 4,287 3% Cadillac CTS 2,428 2% Volvo 60 + 90 3,339 2% TOTAL 154,169 100%

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