No Surprise Here: BMW and Benz to Sell More CUVs Than Cars This Year

BMW and Mercedes-Benz expect cars to account for less than half of their sales in the U.S. for the first time.

The automotive market has been shifting to crossovers and SUVs for the past few years, and now luxury automakers are adding more and more offerings to their lineup. The overall U.S. light-vehicle market went majority truck in 2002, but the luxury market took a bit longer. Truck dominance in the luxury segment didn’t arrive until 2016, but the major German brands such as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes have still continued to rely more on cars.

That is expected to change this year, as BMW and Mercedes-Benz expect its crossovers and SUVs to pass the 50-percent threshold for the first time in the U.S. Last year, crossovers and SUVs accounted for 49 percent of Mercedes-Benz’s sales, while BMW saw 44 percent. For Audi, 2017 was the first time crossover and SUV sales surpassed cars, with 53 percent of its sales going to the popular segment.

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BMW has pledged more inventory of crossovers and SUVs to the U.S. this year, with the company projecting those vehicles would account for 55 percent of its sales. The German automaker will add more inventory for the X3, while introducing the X2 to market this year. There’s also redesigned X4 and X5 models expected in 2018. And then there’s the full-size X7, but that isn’t scheduled to go on sale until 2019.

Mercedes is doing something similar, with more inventory of crossovers and SUVs heading to the U.S. Expect a “substantial increase” for the GLC, according to Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Dietmar Exler. There’s also the new G-Class that debuted at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, and a redesigned GLE that will be unveiled this year, although it’s likely to go on sale next year. Spy photographers have also caught the baby G-Class model testing, the GLB, which is expected to arrive in 2019.

[Source: Automotive News]