US luxury car market differentiation

According to the report of “American Auto News”, the current differentiation of the US luxury car market is more obvious. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus’ three major brands account for more than half of the entire luxury car market. The gap between second-tier brands such as Cadillac and Yingge and first-line brands is more Big.

It should be noted that the “first-line brands” and the “second-tier brands” are based on the U.S. market share. Although Audi is the second-largest luxury car brand in the world, its share in the US luxury car market is less than 10%. The second-tier luxury cars in the US market have a gap with the giants BMW, Mercedes and Lexus.

BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus are the three largest companies

In 2014, the sales of luxury cars in the United States rose by 6.4%, more than the overall automobile market. However, not all brands have been assigned to other big “cakes”. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Audi have taken the lead.

Last year, BMW took the top spot with 18% of the luxury car market share, with Mercedes-Benz at 17.5% and Lexus at 16.5%. The fourth-ranked Audi is only 9.7%, and Cadillac is 9.1%. The top three have a total share of 52%. In contrast, in the non-luxury car market, the total share of the Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota brands is 43.8%.

In terms of brand loyalty, IHS Automotive data shows that in 2014 Mercedes-Benz owners’ brand loyalty was 58%, BMW was 53%, Lexus was followed by 52%, and only second-tier brands exceeded 50%.

Market differentiation is significant

According to Tom Libby, an analyst at IHS Automotive, sales of the BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLK declined after Lexus introduced the NX compact crossover last year, while its second-tier brands’ competing models were not affected. The overall luxury car market appears to be “split”, with one of the Big Three launching a new car and the other two being impacted. The second-tier brand is almost excluded from competition.

J. D. Chris Sutton, vice president of retail sales for Power Automotive, said that in 2014, 21% of BMW's customers had compared Audi models, 20% had compared Mercedes, 14% had compared with Redsas, and other second-tier brands The proportion of comparison does not exceed 10%.

BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus have strong overall strength, a rich product lineup, strong premium capabilities, and deep product image. These factors are difficult to match for second-tier brands. For example, the BMW X4 is BMW's vehicle model between the sedan and the SUV. Mercedes has also introduced the GLA compact crossover to attract new customers. Among the compact crossover vehicles, BMW has X1, X3 and X4, while Cadillac has There is no compact crossover.

According to the car website Edmunds. According to com statistics, including M-class performance vehicles and various derivative versions, BMW had a total of 35 models in 2015 and 27 models last year. Lexus and Mercedes-Benz 19 models, Audi 29 models. In contrast, there are only 8 Cadillac models, which are smaller than the 12 models of last year. Infiniti has 9 models and only 5 Acuras.

Audi can enter the first-line brand

Kelly Blue Book analyst Karl Brauer said that Audi is currently the most likely brand to enter the front line from the second line, while other brands have little chance.

In 2014, Audi's US sales increased by 15%, surpassing Cadillac and Yangko in fourth place. In the first two months of this year, Audi’s global sales took the lead in the luxury car market, but sales in the US market dragged its feet. However, this year's model lineup has reached 29 models, which can almost match its local rivals BMW and Mercedes.

Last year benefited from the promotion of the new model MKC, Lincoln’s sales rose 16% from 81,694 vehicles in 2013 to 94,474, but due to the smaller base, it is still less than three times that of brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz. one.

Due to the large gap, Lincoln, Yangko, and Infiniti were unable to catch up with the first-tier giants in a short time. According to Mike Accavitti, general manager of the Honda Acura Division, Acura's current five-car lineup is "feel comfortable." Although Acura only has two RDX and MDX SUVs, it has a large share in the compact and mid-size crossover segment. Last year, Acura’s sales in the United States fell behind Audi and Cadillac, ranking sixth, rising to fourth place in the first two months of this year.