Mercedes-Benz Adds To U.S. Luxury Sales Lead With Higher Prices

By Jamie Butters
Bloomberg

Daimler AG rolled through another month with the top-selling luxury auto brand in the U.S. In addition to drawing more customers, Mercedes-Benz is getting buyers to pay more.

Mercedes-Benz sold 24,522 cars and sport utility vehicles in the U.S. last month, a 6.9 percent increase from a year earlier. BMW AG’s namesake brand rose 0.3 percent to 22,558 and Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus line tumbled 21 percent to 18,338.

After snatching the luxury sales crown from BMW last year, Mercedes looks poised to clinch the title again. Deliveries of the redesigned E-Class sedan surged 29 percent, while the GLS full-size SUV more than doubled. Daimler also boosted its average transaction price by about $4,700, according to TrueCar Inc.’s ALG.Along with Volkswagen AG’s Audi, Mercedes has “done more to drive demand for its utility portfolio than BMW or Lexus have done,” ALG’s chief analyst Eric Lyman said. With the Alabama-built GLS, Mercedes is “the only automaker that seems to have a legitimate competition with the Escalade” sold by General Motors Co.’s Cadillac brand.

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