Buick Could Become America's Top Luxury Brand in 2011 - autoevolution

Buick Could Become America's Top Luxury Brand in 2011 - autoevolution: "The guys at Kicking Tires have shifted through the sales figures and realized that Buick sold more luxury cars in February than Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Acura. Only BMW managed to beat them by 800 units. What makes this impressive rise to the top of sales in its segment is the fact that the American automaker has achieved this with just four cars in its lineup: the Enclave, LaCrosse, Lucerne and Regal. Meanwhile, Lexus offers a total of nine models to its potential US customers.

Back in the mid-20th century, Buick was seen as the understated luxury make, that was an alternative for Cadillac ownership. It quickly became a brand for white-collar professional, a niche it lost to Lexus more than twenty years ago.

In total, Buick sold 15,807 vehicles in February, up 73.3 percent from the same month of last year, compared to 13,814 vehicles at Lexus (up just 0.2%). The GM brand also outsold the Toyota’s in January, while also showing a greater year-to-date result.

The news is not really that surprising, seeing that Buick has seen sales gains for 17 straight months, and it was the fastest-growing brand of 2010. Meanwhile, Lexus barely managed to stay ahead of BMW by a slim margin."