Mercedes-Benz tapped demand for SUVs to help it win the U.S. luxury sales race in 2017 despite a decline in its own sales. The victory gave the brand back-to-back titles as the luxury market declined for a second straight year.
Coming in at No. 2 was BMW, which just beat out the previous year's runner-up, Lexus. Lexus finished 553 vehicles behind BMW after posting a 14 percent drop in December.
Overall luxury sales for the year declined 0.2 percent to 2.02 million. That compares with a 1.8 percent decline overall for U.S. light-vehicle sales. Seven of the 13 luxury brands posted decreases in 2017. Like the overall vehicle market, the luxury segment suffered amid a precipitous drop in sedan demand. That falloff was countered by growth in luxury crossover and SUV sales.
Read Article