A worker fixes a badge onto the boot of a Jaguar XJ at the company’s Castle Bromwich Assembly Plant in Birmingham November 29, 2011.EDDIE KEOGH/Reuters
Luxury auto makers celebrated another banner year in 2013 as sales of luxury vehicles outperformed the overall market.
Sales of luxury vehicles rose 6 per cent to 172,610, better than the increase of 4 per cent in the broader Canadian market.
The growth in the luxury market has been one of the key trends for more than a decade as luxury auto makers broaden their product offerings to participate in more segments in the market, and as aging baby boomers grow wealthier.
The market has grown by more than 50 per cent in a decade and could more than double to sales of between 240,000 and 260,000 vehicles annually by the end of this current decade, said Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. "We don't see an end in sight," DesRosiers said.
BMW Canada Inc. stayed ahead of Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. to grab first place in the sales race among the luxury brands. But the big winners were Jaguar Land Rover Canada, whose sales of Jaguar models almost doubled from a year earlier and Cadillac, which posted a 45-per-cent sales increase based on a strong performance by its ATS sedan.
Cadillac jumped ahead of Infiniti to a spot that now puts it at the top of what DesRosiers describes as the third tier among luxury brands, based on sales volume. The brand has a long way to go to catch Mercedes and BMW, each of which sold more than 30,000 vehicles in Canada last year, but Cadillac strongly outperformed its Detroit-based rival Lincoln, whose sales dipped 5 per cent.
If you have questions about driving or car maintenance, please contact our experts at globedrive@globeandmail.com.
Follow us on Twitter @Globe_Drive.
Add us to your circles.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter.