Sales in the Premium Limousine segment rose sharply by 23 percent in the third quarter, making up for sales declines in the first two quarters, to produce a net 3 percent increase in sales over the first three quarters compared to the same period in 2015. What’s more, once the Tesla Model S is included (it technically belongs to the Alternative Power segment), sales growth rises to 12 percent over the course of the three quarters, while total sales rise from 43,285 to 64,360. What’s more, prospects for the segment look bright as both new releases from 2016 keep bringing in more and more sales: BMW 7-series and Cadillac CT6.
Highlights for Q1-Q3 2016
- Sales of Tesla Model S rose by a remarkable 89 percent in the third quarter of 2016, resulting in a 35 rise in sales YTD compared to the first three quarters in 2015, and allowing it to open up a sizeable lead over the once undisputed segment-leader, Mercedes-Benz S-class (whose sales are down 16 percent this year)
- Another car that contributed to the S-class’s fall in sales is BMW 7-series, whose sales grew by a scantly-believable 219 percent in Q3
- The most remarkable performance in the segment must belong to the upstart Cadillac CT6, however – in the third quarter it ranked a very strong fourth in the standings, and came within 200 units of outselling the 7-series
- Most other cars in the segment experienced a fall in sales, with the Jaguar XJ doing least bad (5 percent fall in sales), while sales of Kia K900 collapsed before they even got started
- For the first time, we can show sales figures of the Maserati Quattroporte, Bentley Flying Spur and Bentley Mulsanne, the Italian limo is up 8% on last year, while the two British sedans lose a significant chunk of volume as Bentley has focused on the introduction of its new SUV Bentayga.
Note: “est” designates our own estimates of model sales, based on brand total sales; 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