Luxury Crossovers Sales Decrease 25 Percent According to Edmunds.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Luxury crossovers are not living up to the expectation that they would be the new fad among car buyers, according to a new report published on Edmunds' AutoObserver.com today. Sales of the segment have dropped nearly 25 percent since 2007, despite the fact that four new products were introduced into the segment during this period.

"The luxury crossover segment has taken a beating in sales because most of today's consumers are concentrating on value," says Jessica Caldwell, Senior Industry Analyst at Edmunds.com. "Big profits were anticipated for new models introduced into this segment, and that is just not proving to be the reality for most."
Below is a chart that shows year-over-year sales decrease in the luxury crossover segment for the sales period of January through September:

Model		2009 vs. 2007			2009 vs. 2008
Infiniti EX35		N/A			-43.1	%
Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class		N/A			N/A
Land Rover LR2		-40.8	%		-21.1	%
Acura MDX		-51.2	%		-43.1	%
Audi Q5		N/A			N/A
Acura RDX		-60.1	%		-47.9	%
Lexus RX 350		-12.8	%		8.9	%
Cadillac SRX		-48.2	%		-31.8	%
BMW X3		-77.7	%		-65.9	%
Volvo XC60		N/A			N/A
Volvo XC90		-69.1	%		-52.6	%
Grand Total		-25.0	%		-8.8	%

For more information, please visit Edmunds' AutoObserver.com story "Brands Looking to Expand Luxury Crossover Share Dealing with Ruthless Trends" at http://www.autoobserver.com/2009/10/brands-looking-to-expand-luxury-crossover-share-dealing-with-ruthless-trends.html.

About Edmunds Inc. (http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/)

Edmunds Inc. publishes four Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive consumer information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its most popular feature, the Edmunds.com True Market Value^®, is relied upon by millions of people seeking current transaction prices for new and used vehicles. Edmunds.com was named "Best Car Research Site" by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "Most Useful Web Site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM), was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites by The Wall Street Journal and was rated "#1" in Keynote's study of third-party automotive Web sites. Inside Line launched in 2005 and is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. CarSpace launched in 2006 and is an automotive social networking Web site and home to the oldest and most established automotive community. AutoObserver.com launched in 2007 and provides insightful automotive industry commentary and analysis. Edmunds Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit.