US auto market remains bright spot as China pulls back - OCRegister
Lorem ipsum dolor Vestibulum tortor quam, feugiat vitae, ultricies eget, tempor sit amet, ante. Vestibulum tortor quam, feugiat vitae, ultricies eget, tempor sit amet, ante. Sales rose 2. 1 percent from a year earlier to 33,487, including 4,448 of the new $34,480 NX sport utility vehicle, Lexus said Tuesday. More affordable entry-level models such as BMW’s $32,950 3 Series, Mercedes’s $31,500 CLA-Class and the NX are broadening the brands’ appeal to younger buyers. “As BMW and Mercedes move down-market, the Lexus strategy has been very different,” said Kevin Tynan, an auto analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. For August, BMW said sales climbed 2 percent to 27,775, led by a 24 percent surge for the 3 Series. Daimler AG’s Mercedes reported a 4. 8 percent gain to 28,373, with a 39 percent jump for the C-Class car and 2,169 deliveries of the new GLA small SUV. The results exclude Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler’s Sprinter vans and Smart cars and Munich-based BMW AG’s Mini brand, which aren’t luxury vehicles. For the year, BMW’s sales have increased 5. 9 percent to 223,348, for a lead of 1,197 over Lexus, which has gained 12 percent to 222,151. Mercedes is up 7. 3 percent to 220,870. BMW won the sales crown last year. The German brands have held the annual lead since 2011, when BMW snapped Lexus’s 11-year run. Source: www.ocregister.com
