In Demand: Mercedes-Benz, BMW Dominate The Luxury Segment, Audi Comes A Distant Third In 2018

Only Mercedes-Benz and BMW managed to cross the 10,000 sales mark in 2018

Updated on: 17 January 2019 5:11 pm

Mercedes-Benz retains the top spot, followed by BMW and Audi.
YoY Demand for Mercedes-Benz cars grew at 1.4 per cent.
Volvo recorded the highest growth rate of 30 per cent in 2018.
JLR and Volvo, both showed a positive growth pattern.

2018 sales numbers for luxury carmakers are in. And it's no secret that Germans giants Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are the most popular brands, with Mercedes-Benz leading the popularity chart, if sales are an indication of the same. Here’s a list with sales figures to clear more details:

Takeaway

As the table clearly states, Mercedes-Benz sold the most number of luxury vehicles but recorded a minimal growth of 1.4 per cent. The brand gives credit to the E-Class Long Wheelbase for being the blockbuster in the lineup, while the C-Class, CLA, GLC remained some of the other more popular models in 2018.

Popularity of BMW, as well as Mini cars, grew by 13 per cent (YoY) in 2018. The brand Mini alone attracted 66 per cent more buyers in 2018 compared to 2017. BMW credits the locally produced X series of SUVs like the X1, X3, X5 for attracting the most of the numbers. Just like the other X models, it plans to locally produce the X4 and X7 which should result in competitive price tags.
As a result of one of its largest dealerships in Delhi-NCR shutting down, Audi suffered a drop of 18 per cent in sales. Audi’s sales were influenced by the launch of Audi's new Q3 & Q7 design editions. But calling it the year of the ‘8’, it will be launching the Audi R8, A8 and most likely, the Q8 in 2019.
Jaguar Land Rover stayed behind the Germans with 4,596 unit sales in 2018. The carmaker's SUV models -- Discovery Sport, Evoque and F-Pace were in more demand compared to others. Other major contributors were the XE and the XF.

Volvo might be reeling at the end of this list, but seems to be on the right way up with a 30 per cent growth over 2018 sales. Launch of the Volvo XC40 and the V60 Cross Country gave the sales a major push in 2018. Expect the Swedish brand to carry the momentum forward as it’s also planning to launch the new S60.

Source: cardekho.com