[The Epoch Times, January 16, 2023](The Epoch Times reporter Xia Yu compiled and reported) Tesla electric car company surpassed BMW to become the best-selling luxury car brand in the United States, and it is also the first American company to win this honor in the past 25 years brand.
“U.S. News & World Report” reported on January 12 that U.S. auto sales will not perform well in 2022, with total sales falling below 14 million, the lowest level in more than a decade. However, there are also auto brands bucking the trend. Tesla delivered about 1.31 million vehicles last year, an increase of about 40% over 2021, but the company initially aimed to increase annual vehicle deliveries by 50% or more.
And Tesla will become the best-selling luxury car brand for the first time in 2022.
Tesla has seen a big jump in sales thanks to the addition of two new factories, one in Austin, Texas, and the other in Brandenburg, Germany. The U.S. automaker also ramped up production at plants in Fremont, California, and Shanghai. Increased vehicle production has helped Tesla meet high consumer demand. It should be noted that Tesla does not break down sales by region, and Automotive News estimates that Tesla sold 491,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year, an increase of nearly 45% compared to the previous year.
As the first U.S. brand in nearly 25 years to top the luxury car market, Tesla overtook BMW, which has been the U.S. luxury car leader for the past three years. BMW’s sales are basically flat year-on-year, ranking second on the list with annual sales of 332,388 vehicles in 2022.
BMW is ahead of longtime rival Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz is up 4% year-over-year for a total of 286,764 sales in 2022. The improved sales put the German company ahead of Lexus, which is in fourth place with sales falling 15% to 258,704 units in 2022.
Audi’s sales figures fell fairly quickly, finishing fifth overall with 186,875 vehicles sold.
The second-highest-ranked American brand was Cadillac, which ranked sixth with 134,726 vehicles sold. Thanks to the popularity of its most flagship product, the Escalade, Cadillac’s sales rose an impressive 14% year-over-year.
The rest of the top 10 US-selling luxury car brands are Acura, Volvo, Lincoln and Porsche.
Tesla specializes in electric vehicles and currently offers four different models in the US — the Model S, Model X, Model Y and Model 3. The Model 3 starts at $46,990, making it an entry point for the brand — the top-end model, the Model S, starts at just over $100,000. Tesla doesn’t list specific models in its sales report, but the company does say that the Model 3 and Model Y together account for 95% of Tesla’s global sales.
Luxury cars still make up a small percentage of overall U.S. auto sales, with Tesla ranking 12th in overall U.S. auto sales in 2022. But more importantly, Tesla’s success shows that the acceptance of electric vehicles in the United States continues to increase.
Responsible editor: Li Huanyu#