This marks the first time in nearly 25 years that an American automaker has held the top spot for luxury sales in the US. The previous year, BMW had held a slight edge over Tesla, selling 23,000 more vehicles based on estimates.
According to the Automotive News Research & Data Center, Tesla delivered an estimated 491,000 vehicles in the US last year, a 44% increase from the previous year. Additionally, the EV maker exceeded 1 million deliveries globally. BMW sold 332,388 vehicles in the US last year, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 286,764, and Lexus in fourth place with 258,704.
Audi ranked fifth, with 186,875 sales, while Cadillac was the only other American brand in the top 10, with 133,726 sales. Acura and Volvo were the only other brands to exceed 100,000 sales, with 102,306 and 102,038 sales, respectively.
Tesla taking the No. 1 spot in US luxury car sales shows the paradigm has shifted with electric vehicles dominating the luxury segment, Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power, told Automotive News.
"Not only do luxury buyers want EVs, but the one that only sells EV is now the sales leader," he said, adding that Tesla's sales dominance sends the following message to the industry: "If you want to be at the top of the luxury segment, you've got to beat Tesla, and you've got to do it with EVs."
Source: Automotive News
