[stein_325i]

Interesting results for the 3rd Quarter sales given the current pandemic.

So far for total sales during 2020, Mercedes (excluding Sprinter vans) leads the pack by ~15,000 cars, Lexus edges out BMW for second with a lead of ~2,000, BMW takes third, and Audi remains in fourth.

Originally Posted by Bloomberg

Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus brand outsold luxury rivals Mercedes and BMW in the latest quarter as inventory shortages triggered by the pandemic hampered the German brands.

Lexus, which hasn’t won the annual U.S. luxury sales race in a decade, grew 2% on the year to 75,285 vehicles in the third quarter. Deliveries at Daimler AG’s premium line declined 9.4% to 69,631 units, and BMW AG suffered a 16% decline to 69,570. Mercedes is still leading the other two carmakers year-to-date by a wide margin.

Lexus has weathered the pandemic better than its German rivals, with the brand’s best-selling RX SUV seeing strong demand in the quarter. Both Mercedes and BMW have been hamstrung by tight inventory as the pandemic idled plants in Europe and the U.S. for weeks. Lexus saw a 31% jump in September alone, led by its RX, NX crossover and ES sedan. That pared declines this year to 13%.

“BMW used sales have been very strong -- I think it’s eating the new car demand because of the inventory shortage,” said Marc Cohen, vice president at Priority 1 Automotive Group in Maryland, which operates two BMW stores.

BMW dealers adapted by selling customers on vehicles that hadn’t yet arrived on the lot and with soaring sales of off-lease cars. After making do with tight inventory in July and August, BMW had a record month in September as its supply of vehicles was replenished, said Bernhard Kuhnt, president of BMW’s North America business.

“In September we had for the first time what I’d call better inventory levels,” Kuhnt said by phone. “For the rest of the year I’m cautiously optimistic, but definitely much more optimistic than I was in March.”

Lexus has edged out BMW for the number two spot in year-to-date sales by 2,105 units, but Mercedes has sold a total of 196,838, a lead of nearly 15,000 vehicles over Lexus.

While BMW’s ratio of sports utility vehicles to sedans climbed to 62.5% in the third quarter, led by the X3 crossover, Mercedes has a new compact SUV, the GLB, and other refreshed SUVs to tap Americans’ shift away from sedans to light trucks.

BMW has had to contend with other headwinds as well. Last month, the company agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $18 million to settle allegations it gave investors misleading information about retail sales. In August, the automaker trimmed its white-collar workforce in the U.S. to align costs with the plunge in sales.

The collapse of the rental-car market has also hurt results this year, so BMW has turned its focus to growing retail sales, Kuhnt said. “You will see in Q4, whatever that result will be, we grew our customer business,” he said.

Volkswagen AG unit Audi’s U.S. deliveries are down 22% in 2020, following a 16% drop from July to September. Its top-selling Q5 SUV suffered a 34% decline in the quarter.

Full Article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...s-luxury-sales




10012020_-_Q3_2020_BMW_of_NA_Sales_Results_-_FINAL_.pdf
201001_Q3_2020_BMW_Group_US_Sales_Chart_ (1).pdf

[pz619]

The good news is that we got some new grills that everyone loves, which will clearly help them turn this around.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by pz619

The good news is that we got some new grills that everyone loves, which will clearly help them turn this around.

Haha, I will be so curious to see how sales pan out for the new 4er and M3/4.

[Germanauto]

I've heard the supply chains of the European automakers got hit harder.

[Wolf 335]

Im not sure why they even manufacture X2, X4, and X6.

They look like complete crap and sale figures speak for themselves.
Should be scrapped from production.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Im not sure why they even manufacture X2, X4, and X6.

They look like complete crap and sale figures speak for themselves.
Should be scrapped from production.

The Germans love to fill any niche they have. Even with the smaller sales numbers, the demand is there. People want their sedans to be coupe-like, and their SUV's to be sedan-like. Love it or hate it, this is probably the most successful niche the Germans have created. The days of a simple and understandable lineup are pretty much over at BMW, MB and now even Audi and Porsche. Surprisingly Mercedes even stated today that they made a mistake in chasing every niche possible as it devalues the brand and misplaces where they should put their resources and money (https://jalopnik.com/you-are-no-long...des-1845299159)

I do wonder if the X4/6 bring in more money for BMW since despite their sales numbers are smaller, they cost about $5k more than their more "traditional" counterparts on which they are based on, and likely have similar build costs.

[Mavus]

Originally Posted by jstein55

Haha, I will be so curious to see how sales pan out for the new 4er and M3/4.

well Yuri did the visor test and said it is upgraded so that should help

on another note, rear brake caliper looks like it came from Geo Metro


thx for info ... wonder how P is doing

[Moflow]

Originally Posted by jstein55

The Germans love to fill any niche they have. Even with the smaller sales numbers, the demand is there. People want their sedans to be coupe-like, and their SUV's to be sedan-like. Love it or hate it, this is probably the most successful niche the Germans have created. The days of a simple and understandable lineup are pretty much over at BMW, MB and now even Audi and Porsche. Surprisingly Mercedes even stated today that they made a mistake in chasing every niche possible as it devalues the brand and misplaces where they should put their resources and money (https://jalopnik.com/you-are-no-long...des-1845299159)

I do wonder if the X4/6 bring in more money for BMW since despite their sales numbers are smaller, they cost about $5k more than their more "traditional" counterparts on which they are based on, and likely have similar build costs.

You gotta believe the profit margins are pretty high on the Xeven number SUV's since they share so many parts with the Xodd number SUV's but cost more.

[DDD31]

Originally Posted by pz619

The good news is that we got some new grills that everyone loves, which will clearly help them turn this around.

Better be careful or

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by Smooth 330i

well Yuri did the visor test and said it is upgraded so that should help

Originally Posted by Smooth 330i

thx for info ... wonder how P is doing

Here's Porsche Q3 sales. 718 seems to have improved by a small margin (has been struggling since new generation), Cayenne is up, likely due to greater availability of new generation models, and Taycan surprisingly is the best selling car in the lineup. Panamera is still struggling, and Macan sales are down but most of the losses seem pretty normal due to the pandemic, but overall still able to stay 5% up.

[stein_325i]

With only one more quarter left, I wonder if Lexus will be able to maintain its overtaking of BMW. Last year BMW was able to beat MB for the US sales crown by a small amount (however SEC findings may reveal that those sales were faulty) but this year they may drop from 1st to 3rd if inventory stays scarce and sales for Lexus (mainly the RX, NX and ES) stay strong.

[Moflow]

Originally Posted by jstein55

Here's Porsche Q3 sales. 718 seems to have improved by a small margin (has been struggling since new generation), Cayenne is up, likely due to greater availability of new generation models, and Taycan surprisingly is the best selling car in the lineup. Panamera is still struggling, and Macan sales are down but most of the losses seem pretty normal due to the pandemic, but overall still able to stay 5% up.

Attachment 2432420

Man. Put me in a time machine and send me back to 1995. I want to tell people that in 25 years, 2/3rds of Porsche sales will come from SUVs.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by Moflow

Man. Put me in a time machine and send me back to 1995. I want to tell people that in 25 years, 2/3rds of Porsche sales will come from SUVs.

It is weird to think that, definitely something I would have never expected twenty years ago. Luckily the Macan and Cayenne help fund their GT division and fantastic sports cars that Porsche makes (*hint hint* BMW).

I wonder if the Cayenne didn't exist how things would have been considering Porsche was in big trouble financially years ago.

[Moflow]

Originally Posted by jstein55

It is weird to think that, definitely something I would have never expected twenty years ago. Luckily the Macan and Cayenne help fund their GT division and fantastic sports cars that Porsche makes (*hint hint* BMW).

I wonder if the Cayenne didn't exist how things would have been considering Porsche was in big trouble financially years ago.

Yeah. I'm surprisingly okay with it truth be told. It's a combo of just being a realist about the world we live in and Porsche honestly making a pretty good SUV.

[quick6]

Hard to believe Lexus outselling BMW-what products do they even have?

[GeorgeA]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Im not sure why they even manufacture X2, X4, and X6.

They look like complete crap and sale figures speak for themselves.
Should be scrapped from production.

These vehicles are based on their more "SUV" like siblings so they don't cost much to develop and BMW is still able to turn a profit on them.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by quick6

Hard to believe Lexus outselling BMW-what products do they even have?

The RX is Lexus' top seller and has been the best selling mid-size SUV for years, it outsells the X5 by a large amount. The NX and ES also make up a large bulk of sales. They were once the best selling luxury automaker in the US a decade ago. Lexus may be the butt of jokes for how boring, ugly or outdated they are, but their strategy still works despite the drop in rankings.

Their customers don't care about having the fastest car, or best handling or even impressive technology. Lexus customers return for the impressive quality, reliability, resale, and dealer/service experience. To many, piece of mind ownership is the top priority in a car, and Lexus/Toyota remains a synonym for reliability and quality in the automotive industry after having proven themselves for decades.

[309xi]

I live in an RX hot spot. There's. So. Many. Of. Them.

I have been seeing more and more x5/7, but nowhere near what the Lexus have been for years. Not a ton of GS/LS either, mostly RX and IS.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by 309xi

I live in an RX hot spot. There's. So. Many. Of. Them.

I have been seeing more and more x5/7, but nowhere near what the Lexus have been for years. Not a ton of GS/LS either, mostly RX and IS.

Same here, my neighborhood is literally just GLC's, Model 3's, X5's and RX's. Everyone and their mother has one of these cars

[chassis]

Interesting in my view:

- 2020 YTD BMW sales of pre-owned are less unfavorable than new car sales. Agrees with what we are reporting on this site relative to used car pricing.

- Panamera sales are down. It's a relatively new platform that people seem to like. What's up?

- Cayenne sales are up. It's a new platform that people seem to like. Makes sense.

@jstein55 do you have the Benz sales by model for 2020 YTD? I haven't seen it cross the mbworld site.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by chassis

@jstein55 do you have the Benz sales by model for 2020 YTD? I haven't seen it cross the mbworld site.

I don't have the report, I just quoted Bloomberg who has the total sales numbers. I believe Benz posts them later in the month weirdly, but I trust the information by Bloomberg to be accurate.

[BMWCCA1]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Im not sure why they even manufacture X2, X4, and X6.

They look like complete crap and sale figures speak for themselves.
Should be scrapped from production.

10% of something is still . . . something.