April Sales: Mid and Large Luxury Sedans

by Edward Niedermeyer

May 11th, 2011 7:33 PM

BMW’s Dreier continues to be the dominant force in the smaller “mid-luxury” segment, while archrival Mercedes controls the large luxury segment (chart after the jump) with its E Class. But the bigger story? Lexus’s incredible vanishing act, with both the ES and IS drooping under the German onslaught. Cadillac’s CTS beat the Audi A4 sedan, but add the A5 in (as the CTS, 3-Series and G37 all include coupes) and the Caddy drops to fourth place for the month. Ultimately, though, the Mercedes, Audi, Cadillac and Infiniti may switch places month-by-month, but all four are clearly stuck vying for the role of best 3-Series alternative. Meanwhile, the large luxury sedan market would thrill for even that level of competition…

#Luxury #NewCars #Sales

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WriterRRex on May 12, 2011

Like SP, I ws surprised to see how poorly the MKS did in sales. But there are a couple or 3 reasons for it, IMO: 1) Much of the advertising for Lincoln focuses on the MKZ. I don't seem to notice a lot of MKS ads. 2) Lincoln dealers here in my area (North of New Orleans, in relatively affluent burbs) don't really seem to push the MKS. I've only seen 2 here in the wild, and on Lincoln's website, a check of dealer inventory within 50 miles only shows 15 or so MKS' among 6 dealers. 3) Lincoln hasn't marketed the Eccoboost engine in the MKS. And, none of the inventory in stock is an Eccoboost model. If Lincoln wants to distance itself from Taurus, I believe it should ONLY offer the Eccoboost--make it truly a flagship.

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- SPPPP on May 12, 2011
  
  That's true, I haven't seen any MKS advertising in a while. I don't know why you would push the MKZ over the MKS - it's far less impressive to me - but maybe the Lincoln dealers just want to get people into the showroom with the lower price tag of the MKZ. I find the car aggravating on one level because it falls far short of what I think Lincoln should be, but on another level, I do like it. It's sharp-looking in certain colors, like bright red or sparkle black. The Ecoboost is a cool engine, silly name aside. Without the Ecoboost, it's still a nice car, but makes a lot less sense to me. I might even consider buying one. I certainly don't have the money for a new one, but maybe as a used vehicle.
  
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Bridge2farr on May 12, 2011

Lexus problem stems from their ability to master the inoffensive, dull, boring, bland vehicle. That is why they have hit the skids.

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