(Bloomberg) -- BMW AG outsold Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus brand and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz to lead U.S. luxury-car sales for the fourth quarter and full year.
It was the second consecutive year BMW topped its main rivals, selling 98,750 cars and sport-utility vehicles in the last three months of 2020 -- 5,796 more than Lexus and 20,672 ahead of Mercedes-Benz.
Sales for all three companies were hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, with BMW down 18% for the year to 278,732, Lexus sliding 7.7% to 275,041 and Mercedes-Benz off 13% to 274,916. Automakers were forced to temporarily close factories and shutter showrooms in the spring to cope with the virus.
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Deliveries rebounded in the second half of the year, however, with BMW saying fourth-quarter results fell just 2% below a year earlier and included two months of record retail sales. Among its best-selling models were the X3, X5 and X7 SUVs.
Consumers with money to spend have been snapping up luxury sport-utility vehicles, boosting average transaction prices and illustrating a widening gap between well-heeled and cash-poor car buyers.
Read more: Pandemic Sharpens Split Between Have and Have-Not Car Buyers
Mercedes-Benz said SUVs accounted for 65% of its sales last year, with the new GLA and GLB representing more than a quarter of that total. The Lexus GX midsize SUV, which starts at $53,000 and hasn't been fully upgraded in 10 years, saw big gains at the end of the year.
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