Tesla still the top premium car brand in the US, Mercedes-Benz and Audi in Q1 2022

According to new vehicle registration data from Experian (via Automotive News), electric vehicles accounted for a significant portion of the premium/luxury car segment in the United States during the first quarter of 2022.

At the very top is Tesla, which saw a year-on-year improvement of 59% to deliver 113,882 vehicles in Q1 2022. The EV maker’s result meant it commanded a 21.8% share of the 521,343 total vehicles (down 12% from Q1 2021) sold in the specific segment during the first three months of this year.

Meanwhile, 33,400 units behind Tesla is BMW, which managed to deliver 80,482 cars, including non-EVs. The German brand is looking to claim the luxury automaker crown from Tesla this year after coming in second in 2021, but the Q1 2022 numbers show that the gap between the two is widening. During the first two months of this year, Tesla sold 71,250 vehicles compared to BMW’s 54,210 vehicles.

Lexus is currently in third place with 66,907 units, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 60,632 units. Beyond that are car brands that have yet to crack the 40,000-unit mark, including Audi (37,566 units), Cadillac (29,840 units), Volvo (23,513 units), Lincoln (19,977 units), Land Rover (15,581 units), Porsche (13,262 units), Genesis (12,549 units), Infiniti (11,740 units), Alfa Romeo (3,542 units) and rounding off the list is Jaguar with 2,610 units.

The report also pointed out that almost all brands were faced with supply issues that affected deliveries, except for Tesla and Genesis – the latter recorded a year-on-year increase of 53%. Only Tesla exclusively sells EVs, with the rest offering a variety of internal combustion engine, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric cars.

On electrified cars, in Q1, Audi delivered 3,252 EVs, while Volvo sold 6,018 PHEV and EVs. Mercedes-Benz delivered 2,091 units of the EQS during the period to beat the Porsche Taycan that saw just 1,925 deliveries. InsideEVs reports that BMW will ramp up deliveries of its electrified models moving forward, as it has only sold 347 units of the iX and just 13 units of the i3 and i8. The list does not include brands like Lucid (360 units) and Rivian (1,227 units).