The U.S. auto market is supposed to be contracting, but it seems nobody told premium carmakers.
As broader industry demand slowed last month -- with popular pickup and crossover models even posting rare declines -- luxury sales kept on cruising. The four biggest high-end manufacturers in the U.S. all reported gains in February, led by a 12 percent jump for Volkswagen AG’s Audi. Daimler AG-owned Mercedes-Benz continued to lead all premium brands in total sales.
U.S. sales of luxury light vehicles rose 3.1 percent in February while the overall market skidded 2.3 percent. For the year, overall premium light-vehicle sales are up 2.1 percent vs. a 0.7 percent decline in the broader market.
Higher-income buyers are going to benefit more from changes to the U.S. tax code, said Charlie Chesbrough, Cox Automotive’s senior economist. Wealthy consumers are also better equipped than those with low incomes to withstand the impact of higher interest rates, he told reporters on a conference call Thursday.
Even if the economy were to weaken, “folks at the upper end of the income scale are not affected as severely as folks at the bottom,” he said. “So the luxury market should be just fine.”
NISSAN: Weaker cars, Infiniti trucks dent results
GM: Double-digit drops for cars, pickups
HONDA: Accord, Civic, CR-V skid
FORD: Deliveries fall on slump in SUVs
TOYOTA: Truck sales power 2nd straight gain
FCA: This time, a slim decline; fleet share at 26%
HYUNDAI-KIA: Slump drags on but truck-car mix improves
NISSAN: Weaker cars, Infiniti trucks dent results
GM: Double-digit drops for cars, pickups
HONDA: Accord, Civic, CR-V skid
FORD: Deliveries fall on slump in SUVs
TOYOTA: Truck sales power 2nd straight gain
FCA: This time, a slim decline; fleet share at 26%
HYUNDAI-KIA: Slump drags on but truck-car mix improves
ATTENTION COMMENTERS: Over the last few months, Automotive News has monitored a significant increase in the number of personal attacks and abusive comments on our site. We encourage our readers to voice their opinions and argue their points. We expect disagreement. We do not expect our readers to turn on each other. We will be aggressively deleting all comments that personally attack another poster, or an article author, even if the comment is otherwise a well-argued observation. If we see repeated behavior, we will ban the commenter. Please help us maintain a civil level of discourse.
