For the third year in a row, BMW has held off rivals Lexus and Mercedes to claim the US luxury sales crown, but Tesla is making it uncomfortably close for the German automaker.
In 2021, US luxury sales outpaced the broader industry. US luxury sales climbed 13 per cent in 2021, compared to the broader industry, which only saw a 3.3 per cent gain.
Luxury brands delivered 2.2 million vehicles, which accounted for a record 14.7 per cent of total light-vehicle sales. Of those 2.2 million vehicles, BMW delivered 336,644 sedans and crossovers last year.
This puts BMW sales on par with pre-pandemic 2019 sales.
In second place was Tesla, which may pass BMW by next year. The EV automaker delivered an estimated 313,400 vehicles in 2021, representing a 60 per cent increase in their yearly sales.
However, numbers are hard to count as Tesla does not provide a regional breakdown of sales, but are based on registration data from Experian and reported by Automotive News.
In third place was Lexus, who delivered 304,475 vehicles last year. In fourth place was Mercedes, which produced 276,102 units. Audi also did well with a 5 per cent over last year and rounded out the top 5 with 196,036 vehicles delivered.
Tesla is joined by other brands who saw their 2021 sales numbers jump as they electrify. Volvo saw an 11 per cent increase to 122,173 units moved.
At the same time, Porsche with their Taycan saw their best year ever in 2021 and sold 70,025 vehicles.
