Sales of small luxury crossovers jumped 40% in February 2015 and so far this year are up 40% compared with the first two months of 2014.
Subtract the newcomers from that equation and the continuing nameplates, those which were on sale at this time last year, posted a 3% February improvement but are down 1% through two months.
Those new players – NX, MKC, Macan, X4 – generated 29% of the small lux CUV activity in January and February. Yet their collective arrival, both at the lower end with the NX and MKC and at the higher end with the Macan and X4, aren't slowing down the Acura RDX, Volvo XC60, and Range Rover Evoque.
The RDX is the class leader at the start of 2015, just as it was in calendar years 2013 and 2014. Interestingly, the Lexus NX has taken off early on in its tenure, generating more sales than the slowing (and aging) Audi Q5 and all other German contenders.
| Auto | Feb. 2015 | Feb. 2014 | % Change | 2 mos. 2015 | 2 mos. 2014 | % Change |
| Acura RDX | 3,862 | 2,911 | 32.7% | 7,379 | 5,641 | 30.8% |
| Lexus NX | 2,666 | — | — | 5,478 | — | — |
| Audi Q5 | 2,493 | 2,643 | -5.7% | 5,420 | 5,417 | 0.1% |
| BMW X3 | 3,124 | 3,301 | -5.4% | 4,465 | 6,000 | -25.6% |
| Volvo XC60 | 1,954 | 1,146 | 70.5% | 3,471 | 2,088 | 66.2% |
| Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class | 1,781 | 2,624 | -32.1% | 3,179 | 4,926 | -35.5% |
| Lincoln MKC | 1,558 | — | — | 3,160 | — | — |
| Land Rover Range Rover Evoque | 1,107 | 927 | 19.4% | 2,510 | 1,806 | 39.0% |
| Porsche Macan | 624 | — | — | 1,420 | — | — |
| BMW X4 | 466 | — | — | 862 | — | — |
| Infiniti QX50 | 177 | 220 | -19.5% | 365 | 417 | -12.5% |
| Land Rover LR2 | 10 | 358 | -97.2% | 46 | 721 | -93.6% |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 19,822 | 14,130 | 40.3% | 37,755 | 27,016 | 39.7% |
The Q5's slowdown occurs in conjunction with the Q3's arrival. Combined Q3/Q5 volume is up 35% through two months; the duo was up 34% in February 2015 compared with February 2014, when the Q3 wasn't yet on sale.
The situation was similar at Mercedes-Benz, where the sharp downturn in sales of the aging GLK takes place as the GLA begins to roundly and routinely outsell its more costly sibling. Combined sales are up 41% this year compared with the first two months of 2014 when the GLK was on its own to collect Mercedes-Benz small SUV buyers.
Other utility vehicles worth mentioning in this group are the entry-level trio from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz (Q3, X1, GLA sales totalled 7073 units in January and February), the Cadillac SRX (which starts below $38,000 and is down 23% to 7294 year-to-date), and the Lexus RX, America's top-selling premium brand utility vehicle. RX sales are up 16% to 13,059 in early 2015, not slowed in the least by the NX.
We make a large number of crossovers eligible for this grouping, including the especially premium-priced Evoque, Macan, and X4. The next big change in the category? Land Rover's Discovery Sport will bring seven-seat availability to the mix.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.
The post Cain's Segments: Small Luxury Crossover Sales In The United States – February 2015 appeared first on The Truth About Cars.
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