The Premium Limousine segment in the US shrank by 8% compared to the first half of 2014, not a great performance but hardly a surprising one given that half of the cars in this segment are on schedule to be replaced in the next year.
Mercedes-Benz S-class CoupeThe Mercedes-Benz S-Class remains the clear market leader, selling more than twice as many units as its nearest competitor. The model actually experienced a decline of 6% compared to previous year, a surprising result given that the model only came to market at the end of 2013. What makes this performance all the more surprising is that the second-placed BMW 7-series experienced growth of 11% in its final year on the market. Bizarre. Still, one can expect the new S-Class coupe to add handsomely to these numbers, not to mention the delicious-looking new S-Class cabriolet.
Lexus LSIn third place sat the Lexus LS, doing pretty well despite its advanced age. In fact, it sold almost 50% more units than another aging model, the Audi A8. But at least neither of them dropped too many sales compared to this time last year, something that can’t be said of the Porsche Panamera in #5 and Jaguar XJ in #6, both of which lost 20% of sales. While this may be understandable in the case of the Porsche, for which a much better-looking competitor is on its way, this is bad news for the newly-facelifted Jaguar.
Closing off the rankings are the Korean duo of Hyundai Equus and Kia K900, which put on a good fight with sales hovering around 2,000 per year in both cases.