Historically, American automotive manufacturers have been criticized for…. well, basically giving customers what they’ve wanted. Customers, you see, have wanted SUVs and tall crossovers; utility vehicles of one kind or another. Domestic automakers understood this and supplied these vehicles. The populace didn’t take kindly to Government General Motors keeping its truck brand, GMC, while killing off its import-fighting brand, Saturn. Yet GMC is one of America’s ten most popular auto brands.
Luxury automakers like Cadillac and Lincoln were especially harshly spoken of. The Escalade and Navigator didn’t represent forward-thinking environmental consciousness, critics said. Lo and behold, and however, luxury automakers from Sweden and Japan (Volvo, Acura, Lexus) whose best-selling models in July 2010 were utility vehicles, formerely known as SUVs or car-based SUVs or CUVs or crossovers.
During a month in which truck/SUV/van sales rose sharply in comparison with July 2009, we shouldn’t be surprised that many luxury automakers require their SUVs if success is to be assured. The Top 10 Best-Selling Luxury Auto Brands are below. Porsche, for the record, sold 2,703 vehicles in July in the USA, up 75% from last year.
#10 – Jaguar/Land Rover: +46% to 3,808
Best Seller: Range Rover Sport
Slowest Seller: Jaguar XK
#9 – Volvo: -33% to 4,319
#8 – Lincoln: -16.3% to 5,586
#7 – Audi: +22% to 7,817
#6 – Infiniti: +37.6% to 9,764
#5 – Acura: +50.3% to 13,017
Best Seller: Acura MDX
#4 – Cadillac: +141.8% to 14,919
Best Seller: Cadillac SRX
#3 – Mercedes-Benz: +7% to 17,367
Best Seller: Mercedes-Benz E-Class
#2 – Lexus: +0.4% to 18,595
Best Seller: Lexus RX
#1 – BMW: +16.4% to 19,064
Best Seller: BMW 3-Series