After a 38% decline in 2020, the large sedan segment is down another 4% in the first quarter of 2021, although that means it outperforms the midsized and upper class segments and is no longer the fastest declining class in the US. Just over 66,000 large sedans were sold in Q1 of 2021, which brings the share of the US passenger car market down to 1.7%, from 2% in Q1 of 2020 and from 1.8% in the full year 2020.
Luxury models gain more than 4 percentage points of share of the class, to reach 46.2%, up from 41.9% in Q1 of 2020 and 45.1% in all of 2020.
The Dodge Charger is up 6% to improve its share of the class to 29.8%. However, its closest rivals Mercedes-Benz E-Class (+18%) and BMW 5-Series (+19%) outperform even the overall market with their double digit improvements. The Chrysler 300 is down 4% and barely manages to outsell the Toyota Avalon, which improves 26% to move ahead of the Nissan Maxima, down 21% into 6th place. In its second full year of sales, the Cadillac CT5 moves past the Tesla Model S (-23%), while the Lincoln Continental (-51%) drops behind the Genesis G80 (+26%) and Audi A7 (+52%). The Volvo 90-Series is up 68% but remains a niche player with less than 1% of the segment. The Mercedes-Benz CLS is down 13%, while the Jaguar XF is up 20% to move ahead of the Kia Cadenza.
US large car sales 2021-Q1
| Large car segment | 2021-Q1 | 2020-Q1 | Change | Share | |
| 1 | Dodge Charger | 19.740 | 18.628 | 6% | 29,8% |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz E-class | 7.845 | 6.652 | 18% | 11,8% |
| 3 | BMW 5-series | 6.433 | 5.395 | 19% | 9,7% |
| 4 | Chrysler 300 | 5.394 | 5.596 | -4% | 8,1% |
| 5 | Toyota Avalon | 5.136 | 4.080 | 26% | 7,7% |
| 6 | Nissan Maxima | 4.807 | 6.102 | -21% | 7,2% |
| 7 | Cadillac CT5 | 4.374 | 3.000 | 46% | 6,6% |
| 8 | Tesla Model S | 4.155 | 5.400 | -23% | 6,3% |
| 9 | Audi A6 / S6 | 3.113 | 2.492 | 25% | 4,7% |
| 10 | Genesis G80 | 1.512 | 1.197 | 26% | 2,3% |
| 11 | Audi A7 / S7 | 989 | 649 | 52% | 1,5% |
| 12 | Lincoln Continental | 768 | 1.563 | -51% | 1,2% |
| 13 | Volvo 90 series | 594 | 354 | 68% | 0,9% |
| 14 | Chevrolet Impala | 462 | 4.965 | -91% | 0,7% |
| 15 | Mercedes-Benz CLS | 354 | 408 | -13% | 0,5% |
| 16 | Jaguar XF | 227 | 189 | 20% | 0,3% |
| 17 | Kia Cadenza | 155 | 485 | -68% | 0,2% |
| 18 | Acura RLX | 144 | 178 | -19% | 0,2% |
| 19 | Lexus GS | 52 | 624 | -92% | 0,1% |
| 20 | BMW 6-series | 41 | 52 | -21% | 0,1% |
| 21 | Buick LaCrosse | 9 | 138 | -93% | 0,0% |
| 22 | Cadillac XTS | 0 | 473 | -100% | 0,0% |
| 23 | Cadillac CTS | 0 | 160 | -100% | 0,0% |
| 24 | Infiniti Q70 | 0 | 115 | -100% | 0,0% |
| Segment total | 66.304 | 68.895 | -4% |
Source: Manufacturers.