The 2015 sales figures are in. For the fourth time in five years, BMW sold more luxury vehicles in the U.S. than any other brand. Last year’s runner-up and the 2013 champ, Mercedes-Benz, spent most of the year in second place behind BMW, but a last-minute surge by Lexus bumped Mercedes into third place.
Lexus wanted the title and if 2015 had thirteen months instead of twelve, who knows, they might have made it. The difference between first and third places was less than 3,000 units. BMW claimed the top spot with 346,023 vehicles sold, Lexus was second with 344,601, and Mercedes-Benz’s 343,088 units delivered were good enough for third.
BMW started December with a sizeable lead, but lagging December sales made it a tight race. BMW sales in the last month of 2015 were down 17 percent over December 2014, while Mercedes-Benz posted only a 0.6 percent increase. Lexus was the big gainer, pushing 41,380 vehicles out the door in December, it’s all-time best selling month ever.
Naturally, BMW of North America was tickled with its second straight title. “The new sales record in 2015 is the third record year in a row for BMW with the numbers further emphasizing the growth of luxury trucks, which are now one-third of BMW sales in the U.S.,” said BMW NA CEO and President Ludwig Willisch. He went on to add, “I fully expect our Sports Activity Vehicles to be the key driver of growth in the new year with both demand and availability increasing. As the maker of the Ultimate Driving Machine, the record sales of our high-performance BMW M brand in the U.S. is especially satisfying and we are looking forward to the new M4 GTS and the all-new M2 coming this year.”
Willisch’s remarks are understandable, given that in 2015 the BMW X5 set a new record for the model with 54,997 sales, nearly 17 percent more than 2014. The BMW i3 EV in its first full year of sales in the U.S. reached 11,024 units sold. The BMW M brand also set a new U.S. sales record with 14,504 cars sold, an increase of 68 percent over 2014.
All luxury marques except Jaguar had sales increases in 2015. For the first time in history, Americans bought more than 2,000,000 luxury vehicles in a single year.
Adding Mini sales to BMW, the BMW Group’s combined U.S. sales number for 2015 was 404,537, a new record and 8,687 more vehicles than 2014. Mini by itself accounted for 58,514 sales, a 4.3 percent bump from the previous year.
The public’s appetite for BMW was not limited to four-wheeled vehicles. BMW Motorrad in the U.S. sold 16,330 bikes in 2015, a new all-time record and 9.3 percent more than were sold in 2014.
This year—2016—BMW will be severely challenged to hold on to its U.S. luxury car sales crown. Lexus has proven that they are back in the game, and the former perennial luxury sales leader will be hard for BMW to handle, especially with an aging 5 Series and an already facelifted 3 Series. Fortunately, BMW’s not-so-secret weapon, the X family of Sports Activity Vehicles and Coupes are maintaining—and increasing—their strong sales. Will it be enough?—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
