Automakers say pent-up demand drives increase in luxury car sales

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Luxury automakers attributed rising sales to several years’ worth of pent-up demand for top-of-the-line brands based in New Jersey.

Luxury automakers attributed rising sales to several years’ worth of pent-up demand for top-of-the-line brands based in New Jersey.

“The premium segment is up overall by 5 percent for November, year to date,” said Peter Miles, executive vice president of sales operations for BMW Group in the United States. “The one fundamental driver behind that is that it’s been so bad from a volume standpoint over the past four years that, at some point, people have to purchase a new car.”

The Woodcliff Lake-based company reported November sales increased from 22,883 a year ago to 26,271 vehicles in 2011. Year to date, BMW has increased its total vehicle sales by 14.6 percent, including sales from its Mini brand. Mercedes-Benz USA, in Montvale, reported a jump from 18,208 vehicles sold in November 2010 to 28,255 in November 2011.

Miles said the industry’s sales volume is currently near the level it was in during the 1980s. He credits the jump in BMW sales to continued investment in developing new products through the recession and providing consumers with the value expected with a luxury brand.

“Despite the fact we went into a recession, that did not stop us one bit from investing in the future,” Miles said. “We’re bringing more and more models to the U.S. market.” Miles said the launch of the new version of the X3, which is selling at 3,000 vehicles a month, is one of the products developed during the downturn that has driven BMW’s sales.

With the launch of the new 3 Series model in February, as well as new all-wheel-drive vehicles, Miles expects BMW to continue on its growth pace, even if there is economic volatility. “Given the volumes seen over the last four years, there is going to be the underlying demand there to see growth,” Miles said. “The winners will be those that bring value to the consumers, even the premium segment.”

“When things are tough, it’s not that consumers stop buying premium goods,” Miles said. “They typically focus on those that offer genuine premium products and value that goes with that.” Mercedes-Benz was unable to provide comment before publication.