Global Premium Sales (Brand) : 2017-18

The premium market has been outstripping mainstream car sales for some time. However, the signs are there that this may be coming to an end. Global sales went from +6% in 2017 to +2% in 2018. We will see if that is a lasting trend. I get a feeling that it is.

The BMW Group is the biggest premium entity with close to 2.5 million sales. Mercedes Benz was closing the gap but that didn't happen in 2018, with both registering +1% growth. Audi managed to drop just 3% but it could be more of the same in 2019.

Lexus held on th 4th place, with Volvo passing JLR with new models. JLR pulled back on sales in China and that hurt volumes. As for the rest, Tesla did exceptionally well but is a company still in its automotive infancy. It still has to prove it can go the distance, and I'm not talking range anxiety.

I haven't got Acura data but it seems to be about the same as 2017.

17	18	Make	2018	%	+/-	2017	%	+/-
1	1	BMW Group	2,486,557	24.5%	1%	2,460,164	24.8%	4%
		BMW	2,125,026	20.9%	2%	2,088,283	21.0%	4%
		MINI	361,531	3.6%	-3%	371,881	3.7%	3%
2	2	Mercedes	2,310,185	22.8%	1%	2,289,344	23.1%	10%
3	3	Audi	1,812,500	17.9%	-3%	1,878,100	18.9%	0%
4	4	Lexus	698,330	6.9%	4%	668,515	6.7%	-1%
6	5	Volvo	642,253	6.3%	12%	571,577	5.8%	7%
5	6	JLR	592,708	5.8%	-5%	621,109	6.3%	6%
		Land Rover	411,875	4.1%	-7%	442,508	4.5%	2%
		Jaguar	180,833	1.8%	1%	178,601	1.8%	20%
7	7	Cadillac	382,148	3.8%	7%	356,467	3.6%	15%
9	8	Porsche	256,255	2.5%	4%	246,375	2.5%	4%
13	9	Tesla	245,240	2.4%	142%	101,312	1.0%	33%
8	10	Infiniti	234,854	2.3%	-5%	246,492	2.5%	7%
10	11	Acura	195,000	1.9%	0%	195,000	2.0%	1%
11	12	Lincoln	176,300	1.7%	-6%	188,383	1.9%	13%
12	13	Alfa Romeo	119,190	1.2%	9%	108,931	1.1%	53%
		Total	10,151,520		2%	9,931,838		6%