In the first quarter of 2019, the Tesla Model 3 was again the #1 top selling car in the US luxury car market. It was far and away the winner. It was actually #13 in the overall US car market, and no other premium-class car even made the top 20.
The Tesla Model 3 accounted for 16% of sales in the small + midsize luxury car markets. That’s 16% of both markets combined.
As Tesla indicated in its quarterly production and delivery report, the Model 3 had approximately 60% more deliveries than the #2 car in the market, which would be the Mercedes C-Class.
If you combine all of the models by brand for these segments, Tesla (which only has the Model 3) drops to #3. Again, it accounted for 16% the small + midsize luxury car market, whereas the Mercedes C-Class + CLA-Class + CLS-Class + E-Class accounted for 20% of the market and the BMW 2 Series + 3 Series + 4 Series + 5 Series accounted for 18% of the market.
I guess it depends on one’s expectations whether all of this is a win for Tesla or not, but there’s no denying that it’s a big deal for a single model to take 16% of the market (or two markets combined), especially when that model comes from a young company that just started mass producing the vehicle a few quarters ago.
Mercedes, BMW, and Audi certainly aren’t dying, but there’s a new big shot in town. Additionally, Mercedes, BWM, and Audi sales are all down in the USA compared to last year, indicating that they are bleeding a bit.
To see how sales of all of these models have changed over time in the past 15 months, check out the next two charts — just be sure to click the little balls at the top of the charts to move from one quarter to the next.
There are more ways to play with the numbers in order to put Tesla’s first quarter performance into perspective, but I think that’s enough for this piece.
Aside from this article focused on the Tesla Model 3 versus its small and midsized luxury class competitors, I’ve also published articles about the Model 3’s place among the top selling cars in the USA and Tesla’s overall position in the luxury car market and luxury vehicle market in the USA.
| Model | Q1 2019 | January | February | March |
| Tesla Model 3 (est.) | 24,003 | 5,000 | 5,500 | 13,503 |
| Acura RLX | 381 | 119 | 127 | 135 |
| Acura TLX | 7,029 | 1,669 | 2,219 | 3,141 |
| Alfa Romeo Giulia | 2,035 | 531 | 646 | 858 |
| Audi A3 | 2,669 | 664 | 823 | 1,182 |
| Audi A4 | 5,779 | 1,691 | 1,436 | 2,652 |
| Audi A5 | 5,478 | 1,651 | 1,603 | 2,224 |
| Audi A6 | 5,358 | 1,889 | 1,506 | 1,963 |
| BMW 2 Series | 2,062 | 578 | 738 | 746 |
| BMW 3 Series | 8,225 | 1,226 | 2,379 | 4,620 |
| BMW 4 Series | 7,402 | 2,842 | 2,685 | 1,875 |
| BMW 5 Series | 10,345 | 3,679 | 2,976 | 3,690 |
| Infiniti Q50 | 8,264 | 2,249 | 2,230 | 3,785 |
| Infiniti Q60 | 1,304 | 406 | 327 | 571 |
| Infiniti Q70 | 962 | 235 | 269 | 458 |
| Lexus ES | 11,390 | 3,144 | 3,324 | 4,922 |
| Lexus GS | 955 | 298 | 263 | 394 |
| Lexus IS | 3,884 | 1,075 | 1,115 | 1,694 |
| Lexus RC | 963 | 262 | 279 | 422 |
| Mercedes C-Class | 15,002 | 4,676 | 4,812 | 5,514 |
| Mercedes CLA-Class | 5,210 | 2,278 | 1,566 | 1,366 |
| Mercedes E/CLS-Class | 10,394 | 3,258 | 3,424 | 3,712 |
| Volvo 60 Series | 3,959 | 1,400 | 1,058 | 1,501 |
| Volvo 90 Series | 1,227 | 514 | 367 | 346 |
| US Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales | Q1 2019 Sales | Segment Share |
| Tesla Model 3 (est.) | 24,003 | 16% |
| Mercedes C/CLA/CLS/E-Class | 30,606 | 20% |
| BMW 2+3+4+5 Series | 28,034 | 18% |
| Lexus ES + IS + GS + RC | 17,192 | 11% |
| Audi A3+A4+A5+A6 | 19,284 | 13% |
| Infiniti Q50 + Q60 + Q70 | 10,530 | 7% |
| Acura TLX + RLX | 7,410 | 5% |
| Buick Cascada + Regal + Lacrosse | 7,056 | 5% |
| Lincoln MKZ | 4,287 | 3% |
| Cadillac CTS | 2,428 | 2% |
| Volvo 60 + 90 | 3,339 | 2% |
| TOTAL | 154,169 | 100% |
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