Tesla Model S = 37% of Large Luxury Car Sales in 2018 in USA*

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

Oh, poor Model S. With the Tesla Model 3 now on the scene in full force and consistently ranking in the top 5 of all US car sales, the older, bigger Model S doesn’t get nearly the attention and discussion it used to get.

Nonetheless, we’re still reporting on Tesla Model S sales compared to other large luxury cars, and the model’s still completely rocking it.

In fact, the Model S took 37% of the US market in 2018, nearly twice as much as the #2 Mercedes S-Class, based on CleanTechnica’s estimates (which basically means estimating US sales as a portion of official global sales*).

In the 4th quarter, the Model S took 36% of the market according to our estimates.

US Large Luxury Car Sales

Model Q4 2018 Q4 2018 Segment Share
Tesla Model S (est.) 7,700 36%
Lexus LS 2,630 12%
BMW 7 Series 2,145 10%
Mercedes S-Class 4,644 22%
Porsche Panamera 1,673 8%
BMW 6 Series 834 4%
Genesis G90 256 1%
Jaguar XJ (est.) 292 1%
Audi A8 943 4%
TOTAL 21,117 100%

US Large Luxury Car Sales

Model 2018 2018 Segment Share
Tesla Model S (est.) 29,660 37%
Lexus LS 9,301 12%
BMW 7 Series 8,271 10%
Mercedes S-Class 14,978 19%
Porsche Panamera 8,114 10%
BMW 6 Series 3,762 5%
Genesis G90 2,136 3%
Jaguar XJ (est.) 1,579 2%
Audi A8 1,599 2%
TOTAL 79,400 100%

Jumping over to large luxury SUV sales, the Model X does not dominate the class in the same way. Our estimate is that it accounted for 19% of large luxury SUV sales in Q4 2018. Similarly, for the full year, it also accounted for 19% of large luxury SUV sales.

US Large Luxury SUV Sales

Model Q4 2018 Q4 2018 Segment Share
Cadillac Escalade 9,572 22%
Mercedes G/GLS-Class 8,780 20%
Tesla Model X 8,050 19%
Infiniti QX80 5,830 13%
Land Rover Range Rover 5,467 13%
Lincoln Navigator 4,754 11%
Lexus LX 1,018 2%
Toyota Land Cruiser 904 2%
TOTAL 43,471 100%

US Large Luxury SUV Sales

Model 2018 2018 Segment Share
Cadillac Escalade 36,032 24%
Tesla Model X 28,290 19%
Mercedes G/GLS-Class 25,566 17%
Infiniti QX80 19,207 13%
Land Rover Range Rover 19,030 13%
Lincoln Navigator 17,839 12%
Lexus LX 4,753 3%
Toyota Land Cruiser 3,235 2%
TOTAL 150,717 100%

One fear of the Model 3’s arrival (or hope, if you were a Tesla short or competitor) was that the Model 3 would eat up consumer demand for Tesla’s larger vehicles, especially the Model S. It appears that hasn’t been the case at all. In fact, with Tesla recently cutting the lower priced trim of the Model S and Model X, it appears demand is far greater than what Tesla can serve. (Otherwise, why would it raise prices so significantly?)

As it often turns out, one popular product from a company can lead more buyers to its other products. Word has been getting around about the Model 3, and that leads to more awareness and interest in its older siblings.

*CleanTechnica’s Tesla sales estimates are based on various statements from Elon Musk, official global figures from Tesla, and sales reports from other countries that are based on vehicle registrations.


Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest CleanTechnica TV Video


Advertisement
 
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.

Zachary Shahan

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

Zachary Shahan has 7324 posts and counting. See all posts by Zachary Shahan