Tesla Model 3 = # 1 Luxury Car In USA

April 6, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

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In the first quarter of 2019, the Tesla Model 3 was again the best-selling car on the US luxury car market. It was by far the winner. It was actually 13th in the US car market and no other car in the premium category was ranked in the top 20.

The Tesla Model 3 accounted for 16% of sales in the small to mid-size luxury car market. That's 16% of both markets combined.

As Tesla indicated in its quarterly report on production and deliveries, the Model 3 recorded about 60% more deliveries than the No. 2 in the market, which would be the Mercedes C-Class.

If you combine all models by brand for these segments, Tesla (which owns only model 3) moves to third position. Again, it accounted for 16% of the market for small and medium-sized luxury cars, while the Mercedes C-Class + CLA Class + CLS + E-Class accounted for 20% of the market and the BMW Series 2 + 3 Series + 4 Series + 5 represent 18% of the market.

I guess it depends on the expectations of whether all this is a win for Tesla or not, but we can not deny that it's a big problem for one model to take 16% of the market (or two markets combined) Especially when this model comes from a young company that started mass production of the vehicle a few quarters ago.

Mercedes, BMW and Audi certainly do not die, but there is another big hit in town. In addition, sales of Mercedes, BWM and Audi all declined in the United States compared to last year, which indicates that they are bleeding a bit.

To see how sales of all these models have evolved over the past 15 months, see the following two charts. Just be sure to click on the little balls at the top of the charts to move from one quarter to the next.

There are more ways to play with the numbers to put Tesla's performance in the first quarter in perspective, but I think that's enough for this article.

Aside from this article about Tesla Model 3 and its midsize and luxury competitors, I've also published articles on the Model 3's place among the best-selling cars in the United States and the position Tesla's global market for luxury cars in the United States.

Model	Q1 2019	January	February	March
Tesla Model 3 (est.)	24,003	5,000	5,500	13,503
Acura RLX	381	119	127	135
Acura TLX	7,029	1,669	2,219	3,141
Alfa Romeo Giulia	2,035	531	646	858
Audi A3	2,669	664	823	1,182
Audi A4	5,779	1,691	1,436	2,652
Audi A5	5,478	1,651	1,603	2,224
Audi A6	5,358	1,889	1,506	1,963
BMW series 2	2,062	578	738	746
BMW 3 Series	8,225	1,226	2,379	4,620
BMW 4 series	7,402	2,842	2,685	1,875
BMW 5 series	10,345	3,679	2,976	3,690
Infiniti Q50	8,264	2,249	2,230	3,785
Infiniti Q60	1,304	406	327	571
Infiniti Q70	962	235	269	458
Lexus ES	11,390	3,144	3,324	4.922
Lexus GS	955	298	263	394
Lexus IS	3,884	1,075	1,115	1,694
Lexus RC	963	262	279	422
Mercedes Class C	15,002	4,676	4,812	5,514
Mercedes CLA class	5,210	2,278	1,566	1,366
Mercedes E class / CLS	10,394	3,258	3,424	3,712
Volvo 60 Series	3,959	1400	1,058	1,501
Volvo 90 Series	1,227	514	367	346

Small and medium luxury car sales in the United States	First quarter 2019 sales revenue	Segment share
Tesla Model 3 (est.)	24,003	16%
Mercedes C / CLA / CLS / E Class	30,606	20%
BMW series 2 + 3 + 4 + 5	28,034	18%
Lexus ES + IS + GS + RC	17,192	11%
Audi A3 + A4 + A5 + A6	19,284	13%
Infiniti Q50 + Q60 + Q70	10,530	7%
Acura TLX + RLX	7,410	5%
Buick Cascada + Regal + Lacrosse	7,056	5%
Lincoln MKZ	4,287	3%
Cadillac CTS	2,428	2%
Volvo 60 + 90	3,339	2%
TOTAL	154,169	100%

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Keywords: Acura, Audi, BMW, Buick, Daimler, EV Sales, Honda, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes, Nissan, Tesla, Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model 3, Tesla Sales, Toyota, US Sales EV, Volkswagen Group, Volvo