Tesla beats BMW as top luxury brand in US for first time, Jaguar at bottom

Tesla’s new vehicle registrations increased 41 percent compared to 2021, while BMW saw registrations drop nearly 5 percent during the same period, the report showed. Moreover, it should also be noted that since Tesla doesn’t provide sales data by region for its cars, registration data is the best measure to track its vehicle sales in the US.

The Experian report added that this is the first time that an EV maker has finished number one in the luxury segment as other luxury automakers' product portfolios were dominated by gas-powered and hybrid vehicles.

The report also said that BMW managed around 14,000 EV registrations in 2022, followed by Mercedes-Benz with around 11,500 EVs registered. Mercedes’ 2022 registrations were almost the same as in 2021.

Experian data also highlights that overall new car registrations for luxury brands reduced by 3.5 percent as against in 2021, to 2.18 million units. Luxury vehicle sales, which have been a strong driver for automakers’ profits, saw hurdles like component shortages for automakers to manufacture and sell more vehicles.

Lexus, which had no electric cars, stood in fourth place with a 16 percent drop in registrations at 260,668 units last year. Audi was in fifth place with 184,279 registrations, an 8.7 percent drop from 2021. Porsche, on the other hand, was placed tenth on the luxury list, with a 5.4 percent decline in registrations at 64,610 units in 2022.