--- description: Rolls-Royce sales are up 33%, and luxury brands like Audi and BMW are having a huge year thus far in 2014 too. title: Luxury Car Sales on the Rise image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte18033763a516e79/69869bb73bc9994d4c1a4856/110113305.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Luxury Car Sales Leave Regular Ole Car Sales in the Dust by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2014 2:43 PM CUT  The logo of German luxury car maker BMW can be seen on a BMW car in Munich, Germany, on March 15, 2011. The logo of German luxury car maker BMW can be seen on a BMW car in Munich, Germany, on March 15, 2011.Christof Stache—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2014 2:43 PM CUT Luxury brands like Audi, BMW and Rolls Royce are having a huge year [so far.](http://time.com/money/2970146/luxury-car-sales-economy/ "undefined") In early 2014, luxury auto sales were up 11 percent – with automakers selling almost 66,000 more vehicles in the U.S. than they did a year earlier, [Businessweek reported.](http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-23/bmws-and-other-luxury-cars-leave-pickups-in-the-dust "undefined") For now, it appears that luxury cars are zooming past your average pick-up and sedan, becoming the American ride of choice for some extremely wealthy customers. But not so fast. Rising sales of higher end models may indicate better times for the ultra-elite, [Money reports](http://time.com/money/2970146/luxury-car-sales-economy/ "undefined"), but overall the total number of cars sold is relatively small (1,968 worldwide from January through June, compared with 1,475 during the same period a year ago). There is another factor to consider for the increased sales of luxury brands, says Money’s Brad Tuttle. “A major reason luxury auto sales are up is that the luxury brands like Mercedes and Audi have been pushing the boundaries of “luxury” with low-priced models that start in the [Honda-Toyota $30,000](http://business.time.com/2013/02/12/luxury-wheels-honda-price-new-breed-of-upscale-cars-selling-for-about-30000/ "undefined") vicinity, with the [CLA line](http://business.time.com/2013/12/14/by-going-cheap-mercedes-looks-to-win-a-high-price-crown/ "undefined") and the [A3, respectively](http://business.time.com/2013/10/28/audi-and-mercedes-are-playing-chicken-over-affordable-luxury-cars/ "undefined")” [Tuttle said.](http://time.com/money/2970146/luxury-car-sales-economy/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2986125/luxury-car-sales-leave-regular-ole-car-sales-in-the-dust/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2986125/luxury-car-sales-leave-regular-ole-car-sales-in-the-dust/"},"headline":"Luxury Car Sales Leave Regular Ole Car Sales in the Dust","datePublished":"2014-07-15T14:43:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:09:03.657Z","description":"Why are so many U.S. buyers opting for an extravagant ride?","url":"https://time.com/2986125/luxury-car-sales-leave-regular-ole-car-sales-in-the-dust/","keywords":["Autos","car","luxury"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte18033763a516e79/69869bb73bc9994d4c1a4856/110113305.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte18033763a516e79/69869bb73bc9994d4c1a4856/110113305.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The logo of German luxury car maker BMW can be seen on a BMW car in Munich, Germany, on March 15, 2011.","caption":"The logo of German luxury car maker BMW can be seen on a BMW car in Munich, Germany, on March 15, 2011.","creditText":"Christof Stache—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2986125/luxury-car-sales-leave-regular-ole-car-sales-in-the-dust/","name":"Luxury Car Sales Leave Regular Ole Car Sales in the Dust"}}]}] ```