2015 Sales War: Did Lexus Really Beat Out BMW?
Ah, the century-old question: to measure car sales by cars sold or by cars shipped to dealerships? Okay, it may not be a century-old question, but still pretty old, and highly relevant.
Believe it or not, sales reports tend to do a terrible job at telling how many cars are really sold, instead, they tell you how many cars the manufacturer allocated to dealerships across the country, which depending on market conditions, could paint an entirely different picture. That’s exactly why Lexus argues that they, and not BMW, sold the most luxury cars in 2015.
Initially, BMW celebrated — in typical BMW-smug fashion — their sales success in 2015, having sold (shipped) 346,023 units nationwide. But according to research done by industry data acquisition firms, BMW’s party may be all but paper towns, as it was Lexus owners who successfully registered the most newly-purchased cars in 2015.
One of those companies, Polk, claims that out of the 346,023 units BMW claims to have sold in 2015, only 335,259 were registered by actual buyers, compared to 340,392 from Lexus. Whether the leftover BMW units are sitting in dealer showrooms or customer driveways, who knows? Lexus executives have repeatedly shown preference for actual buyer registration statistics, as they show real interaction between the brand and its owners.
While there are valid reasons for either argument, Lexus seems to make a more valid point, but what do you think?
