BMW recently unveiled the revamped version of the iconic 3 Series sedan last Tuesday at the Paris Auto show.
It can be recalled that Tesla has delivered over 83,500 vehicles in its third quarter. Therefore, the Elon Musk helmed company's rank is definitely climbing in the US passenger car market. With this, BMW prepares for the battle with an extended lineup of crossovers and SUVs which includes:
- X7 - the first full-sized SUV that is due launching for next year
- iX3 - the next battery-electric vehicle of BMW but will not be around until 2020
Moreover, Daimler AG, Volkswagen AG's Audi, and Porsche brands are expected to launch their own "Tesla Killers" masterpiece too to the market. Next month, Jaguars is reportedly set to deliver the electric I-Pace to US customers. Whether traditional brands sell EVs or not, significant digits remain seen.
Putting the electric models aside, the month of September marked another down month for Daimler's Mercedes-Benz and Toyota's Lexus. Both have held the US luxury crown for these past two years. Tesla is not doing well these days but it is certainly putting the pain on the competitors in the US luxury market.
This was according to the rival BMW AG and the 5 series sedans that are the long-time target for the ambitions of the electric carmaker. After all, they managed to gain a 1.3 percent last September with X3 crossover. It has been believed that Tesla intensifies the competition in a shrinking market these past 3 to 4 months.
"Tesla is now ramping up their volumes, and it's putting pressure on that market segment. In that environment, I'm very, very pleased to say we were up," BMW North America's chief executive officer Bernhard Kuhnt said in an interview last Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, the deliveries of Mercedes fell to over 9.8 percent as its top-selling C-Class plunge at 24 percent. Along with this flop are the crossovers, except for the GLC that spiked at 30 percent. The market for Mercedes has declined for over 4 months while the Lexus deliveries fell as well to 6.1 percent.
"You've got this niche group of exotic vehicle producers that individually don't sell many cars but collectively they're now in the top end of the luxury category. It is a very different luxury car market," says industry consultant in Stamford, Connecticut Maryann Keller. Avid followers of this Premium luxury market are definitely in for a great future.
