Compact Premium Cars
After a stable 2014 the premium compact car segment continues its double digit growth in 2015, adding 100,000 units or 13% of its volume to reach a record 865,724 sales. The top-3 players from each of the German luxury brands all lose a single percent of their respective volumes, as Audi A3 is the best selling model for the third year in a row and for the 12th time in the past 13 years. However, for the second year in a row, it falls just short of breaking its 2006 record of almost 203,000 sales. Keep in mind, Audi sells its hatchback, sedan and convertible all under the same name, while Mercedes-Benz classifies its CLA sedan (and station wagon) as a separate model from its A-Class hatchback, while BMW names its coupe and convertible the 2-series and the hatchback 1-series. Even if we add all versions for each brand together, the A3 remains the segment leader. Audi doesn’t make an MPV to compete with the BMW 2-series Active Tourer or the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, which makes Mercedes-Benz the biggest brand in this segment, with over 261,000 compact cars (+7.4%), but BMW is quickly closing in, improving 54% last year to 243,600 cars.
The BMW 1-series has been facelifted this year and is able to remain stable despite having increased competition inside its own showroom from the 2-series Active & Gran Tourer. Together with the 2-series coupe & convertible, this is the only rear-wheel drive car in the segment until Alfa Romeo builds a next generation Giulietta on the platform of the Giulia. But that’s far from certain to happen and even if so, it’ll be a few years into the future. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class has also been facelifted but stays #3 of the segment.
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