March hasn’t been kind to the U.S. market of luxury vehicles. All three major players – BMW, Mercedes and Lexus – reported loses compared to the same period last year. Lexus deliveries fell 2.8 percent to 30,198, enough to lead the pack in March. BMW reported a 12 percent drop to 30,033 while Mercedes posted a 5.9 percent decline to 28,164. Lexus’ sales were aided by strong numbers reported by their SUV models.
For the first quarter, Mercedes held the top spot in luxury deliveries, followed by Lexus and BMW.
Some luxury brands did manage gains in March. Infiniti said sales rose 10 percent to 13,775 vehicles. Audi reported a 7.5 percent increase to 18,392 cars and SUVs, the brand’s 63rd consecutive month of record deliveries. Porsche was also up 0.7 percent to 4,323 units.
As the big-volume luxury brands are slipping, Jaguar Land Rover claimed its best month for U.S. sales ever. Land Rover was up 29 percent to 8,733 while Jaguar was up 28 percent to 2,133.
