US car sales analysis 2019 Q2 – Premium Large segment

Krzysztof Wozniak
US Premium large car segment
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Lexus ES climbs back to the top of the segment as Audi A6 and A7 see their sales almost double

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Sales in the US  Premium Large segment fell by 5.3% to 115,988 in the first half of 2019, a slightly slower rate of decline than the 9.5% the segment experienced in 2018. However, with the new Audi A6 and A7, as well as Lexus ES hitting their strides, and the new BMW 6-series and Mercedes-Benz CLS about to go on sale, their is hope the segment will rally and finish the year in the black.

Note: different models from the same carmaker are combined for ease of comparison, but are also presented as “breakdown” for comparison; “AP” designates models that are classified in the Alternative Power segment, presented here for comparison; clicking on the model name opens the sales data page for that model; clicking year in the legend turns the display for that year on/off

Highlights

  • The new Lexus ES regained its traditional spot at the top of the segment standings after it was briefly deposed by Mercedes-Benz E-class last year, with the big Merc falling back to third place on the back of a 12% sales decline, behind BMW 5-series (sales up 7%)
  • (Considerably) further back the new Audi A6 did well to jump back up to fourth spot, jumping over Tesla Model S (sales down 30%) among others, its 84% sales growth being topped in the segment only by the doubling of sales of its A7 sister model
  • A lot of models saw their sales fall by more than a third in the last year, among them the soon-to-be-replaced Lincoln Continental (sales down 36%),
  • Genesis G80 (sales down 41%), and Lexus GS (sales down 53%)
  • The worst of all, without a doubt, was that of the large 90-series Volvo models: the S90 sedan saw its sales collapse by two thirds (!) in the model’s only third year on the market, with the V90 Cross Country fairing only slightly less bad

Note: clicking on the model names in legend turns the display for that model on/off; data is displayed from 1990 onwards, but starts earlier – access previous years using slider on bottom