With 2025 behind us, the U.S. luxury car market is taking stock and the contrast between brands is sharper than usual. BMW is celebrating another record year with 388,897 units in 2025, benefiting from strong local production at its Spartanburg plant in South Carolina and a growing shift toward plug-in hybrids, which rose more than 30 percent even as sales of full-battery electric vehicles fell.
Meanwhile, Audi is preparing its US business for the next steps. Audi of America delivered 164,942 vehicles in 2025, a decline of 16 percent from the previous year. The fourth quarter was the most difficult, with a 36 percent decline to 36,233 units.
The situation is different for Audi, whose decline is largely due to factors such as timing, tariffs and model changes rather than a loss of relevance. With a product lineup based on imports, Audi, like other luxury brands, felt U.S. trade pressure more directly in 2025. At the same time, several core products were either discontinued or awaiting replacement.
Nevertheless, Audi continued to make progress in areas such as safety and technology. The German brand received more 2025 IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards than any other luxury manufacturer; as seen on versions of the Q5 and Q5 Sportback built after July 2025, along with the A5, A6 Sportback e tron, Q7, Q6 e tron ​​and Q6 Sportback e tron.
SUVs continued to form the foundation of Audi’s US presence. The midsize Q5 led the way in sales this year with 46,215 deliveries, followed by the smaller Q3 with 23,581 and the larger Q7 with 18,381. Among electric vehicles, sales of the Q6 e-tron increased from 966 units in 2024 to 17,207 in 2025 as availability improved.
In contrast, older EV models such as the Q4 e-tron and e-tron GT sedan declined sharply. Clearly, demand is shifting toward newer platforms and more flexible electrified options, a trend that BMW also saw as plug-in hybrids gained traction.
Sales of certified pre-owned vehicles rose slightly in the fourth quarter, indicating that many drivers stuck with the brand and waited for updated models. 2025 has been a year of realignment for the Ingolstadt-based automaker, but for Audi to gain further traction in the U.S., the company will need to consider manufacturing in the U.S., like BMW and, more recently, Volvo, which has made some significant investments in U.S. manufacturing at its Ridgeville site, also in South Carolina.
Images: Audi
