Tesla beats BMW as top luxury brand in U.S. for first time

It’s now official… sort of.

Tesla (TSLA) has now passed BMW (BMW.DE) as the top luxury brand in the U.S., according to new car registration data compiled by Experian in partnership with Automotive News.

Experian data shows among all luxury brands regardless of powertrain, Tesla had 484,351 new vehicle registrations last year, versus 2nd place BMW at 327,929 new registrations. That Tesla figure represents a 41% increase versus a 2021, with BMW registrations falling 4% in the same period.

Since Tesla does not break out sales data by region for its cars, registration data is the next best measure to track its vehicle sales in the U.S.

Experian reports Tesla’s 2022 registration data is the first time the EV-maker has finished number one in the luxury segment, which is notable because other luxury automakers product portfolios are dominated by gas-powered and hybrid vehicles. Experian notes that BMW only had around 14K EV registrations last year, with 3rd place Mercedes (MBG.DE) notching around 11.5K EVs registered.

Overall Experian data shows new car registrations for luxury brands fell 3.5% versus 2021, to 2.18 million units. Luxury sales have been a strong driver for profits for automakers, and hurdles like component shortages have made it harder for automakers to sell more of these vehicles.

Other luxury brands in the top ten? The only other besides Tesla to see gains in 2022 was GM’s (GM) Cadillac division, with its 133K registrations representing a 6.5% increase over the same period in 2021. Cadillac vehicles like the new all-new Escalade SUV and Blackwing CT4 and CT5 performance sedans have been driving sales for the American luxury brand.

As for BMW, it’s not all bad news. It was just named the top brand overall in Consumer Reports 2023 automotive brand rankings. The Yonkers, N.Y.-based publication said BMW produced the “best-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CR’s independent testing and member surveys.”

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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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