The entire U.S. luxury sales sector rose 23 percent to 616,970 cars and light trucks in the first quarter, outperforming the broader industry’s 8.4 percent bump.
In the first quarter, BMW sales rose 12 percent, and the automaker secured a more than 14,000 vehicle advantage over No. 3 Lexus. The Toyota luxury brand delivered 68,251 vehicles, up 6 percent from a year earlier.
BMW, which commanded a 13 percent share of the luxury segment, extended its lead over German rival Mercedes-Benz with amore than 20,000-vehicle advantage.
Mercedes’ sales of 61,531 were down 1.2 percent from the prior year as demand for the aging GLC — the brand’s best-seller last year — cratered 78 percent. The compact crossover receives a redesign in the second quarter.
Mercedes’ top-end models are proving popular among Americans. The brand’s AMG performance models surged 55 percent in the quarter, while G-Class luxury offroader deliveries grew 40 percent.
Among other luxury brands, Audi sales rocketed 49 percent to 52,763 vehicles in the quarter.
Volvo Cars saw January-to-March sales up 16 percent to 26,483. The uptick was powered mainly by the Swedish automaker’s electrified models, which accounted for 29 percent of total sales during the quarter.
Porsche is expected to report quarterly deliveries on April 17, but the Automotive News Research & Data Center estimates the sports car maker delivered 17,440 vehicles, up 34 percent from a year ago.
Genesis sales of 13,769 were up 17 percent compared with the first three months of last year, while domestic rival Infiniti’s sales surged 40 percent to 15,757.
