US: Tesla Is Now Right Behind BMW In Sales In The Premium Segment

BMW sold the highest number of cars in the premium/luxury segment in 2021, but Tesla was a close second.

By: Mark Kane

Jan 8, 2022 at 10:14am ET

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The premium/luxury segment is experiencing an even bigger disruption than the general automotive market, as electrification is progressing quicker in the high-end part of the market.

According to Automotive News, BMW was the top brand by sales volume in the U.S. in 2021 for the third consecutive year with 336,644 units.

That's an outstanding result, but as we can see on the list, Tesla was the second biggest player with 313,400 units - estimated by Automotive News Research & Data Center, as the company does not release regional sales results. Globally, Tesla sold 936,172 in 2021 (up 87.4% year-over-year).

Thanks to high growth of production and sales, Tesla was able to pass all the other premium/luxury brands, including Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

U.S. premium/luxury brand sales in 2021:

BMW - 336,644
Tesla - 313,400 (estimated by Automotive News Research & Data Center)
Lexus - 304,475
Mercedes-Benz - 276,102
Audi - 196,038

Because of the very high demand and the upcoming start of production in Texas, Tesla is expected to continue to grow quickly, most likely passing BMW at some point in 2022.

What do you think?

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Overall, some 2.2 million premium/luxury vehicles were sold in 2021 in the U.S. (about 14.7% of the total), which means that Tesla's share is already around 14%.

Some might say that Tesla is not really a premium brand, as there are differences between Tesla and old-school premium/luxury brands. However, this is how the automotive industry qualifies the brand. After all, Tesla offers a lot more than most conventional mainstream brands.