Selling the Dream
by Ray Windecker
Automobile Magazine
April 2001, P. 17.

"Adding up the year's prestige-car sales is tricky business. Automobile prestige is a little like pornography--you can't define it, but you know it when you see it. Luxury and great styling often signal prestige, but a car doesn't need them to be prestigious. The Hummer, for example, qualifies for the category even though it's not all that luxurious and not all that styled. Our only firm rule is that money matters. The BMW Z3 roadster, starting at $32,000, makes the cut; the $22,000 Miata doesn't. Here's who sold the most high-zoot cars in 2000."

Brand Total/Cars/SUVs

Lexus 206,037/101,441/104,596

Mercedes-Benz 204,614/151,850/52,764

Lincoln 193,009/155,086/37,923

BMW 189,423/162,703/26,720

Cadillac 189,154/165,808/23,346

Acura(1) 116,706/106,758/9,948

Volvo(2) 87,544/87,544/-

Audi 80,372/80,372/-

Chrysler(3) 71,663/71,663/-

Infiniti(4) 65,256/43,711/21,545

Jaguar 43,728/43,728/-

Saab 39,477/39,477/-

Chevrolet Corvette 31,208/31,208/-

Porsche 22,410/22,410/-

Land Rover(5) 27,148/-/27,148

Mazda Millenia 16,558/16,558/-

Mitsubishi Diamante 9,219/9,219/-

[red]Honda S2000 6,797/6,797/-[/red]

Plymouth Prowler 2,631/2,631/-

Dodge Viper 1,470/1,470/-

Ferrari(6) 1,100/1,100/-

Hummer 875/-/875

Rolls-Royce/Bentley 806/806/-

Aston Martin(6) 270/270/-

Lamborghini(6) 100/100/-

Footnotes:

1 excluding Integras

2 excluding 40-series

3 300M and LHS

4 excluding G20

5 Ford Motor Co. sold 14,165

6 manufacturer estimate

[Edited by S2000 Driver on 03-06-2001 at 06:02 AM]

 

BTW, the Honda S2000 sales figure of 6,797 is consistent with that posted on S2Ki.com for calendar year 2000 U.S. sales.

Here's the link:

https://www.s2ki.com/sales/



[Edited by S2000 Driver on 03-05-2001 at 03:27 PM]

 

BMW sold 26k+ X-5's I'm shocked! or is there another BMW SUV I'm missing?

 

Watch it! It's called SAV (A = activity).
Its sales figure doesn't really surprise me -- I see quite a few of them on the road.
I had a chance to autocross one (not a typo) last summer and that sucker truely handles like a car, just like BMW advertise.

 

I'm not surprised at all at the BMW number. Actually, I thought it would be higher. I hear they have had a lot of problems though, even some lemons. While it may handle like a car, it is not built like a BMW.

 

Just look at that, we outsold the Ferrari !

 

so much for the dealer saying that "only 5,000 will be imported into the US." Now let's see how many years it's sold here too!

(but seriously, my dealer was/is great, no hard feeling here...)

 

How luxurious is a luxury car when it is common currency everywhere? Around here BMWs and Mercedes are a dime a dozen -- in fact you almost see more of them than Fords. This is what leasing has made possible.

S2000s, on the other hand, are rarely seen in these parts. I know there are at least 20-30 in Maryland, but I almost never see another.

 

Hummer - 875 ????

You gotta be kidding me. I see those things on the road way more than I see S2000s.

 

A Hummer on the road would hide 2 S2000s.