Lincoln Nautilus sales increased in the United States while decreasing in Mexico during the first quarter of 2021.
| MODEL | Q1 2021 / Q1 2020 | Q1 2021 | Q1 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAUTILUS | +2.42% | 5,372 | 5,245 |
| MODEL | Q1 2021 / Q1 2020 | Q1 2021 | Q1 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAUTILUS | -4.51% | 296 | 310 |
| MODEL | Q1 2021 / Q1 2020 | Q1 2021 | Q1 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAUTILUS | -59.18% | 20 | 49 |
Despite the 2.42 increase in U.S. sales, the Lincoln Nautilus fell one spot to ninth place out of 10 rivals in its competitive set during Q1 2021. The Lexus RX led the segment in first place, followed by the Acura MDX in second, and BMW with 16,670 cumulative deliveries of the X3 and X4 in third and Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class in fourth.
Audi Q5 took fifth, Cadillac XT5 (see running Cadillac XT5 sales) placed sixth, followed by the Volvo XC60 in seventh, and Infiniti QX50 in eighth. The Nautilus took ninth while the Alfa Romeo Stelvio took tenth (and last) place.
Notably, eight out of the ten models in the segment posted an increase in sales volume during Q1 2021, with the Cadillac XT5 and BMW X4 being the only contenders that were in the red.
| MODEL | Q1 21 / Q1 20 | Q1 21 | Q1 20 | Q1 21 SHARE | Q1 20 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEXUS RX | +34.03% | 27,941 | 20,847 | 23% | 23% |
| ACURA MDX | +90.00% | 16,988 | 8,941 | 14% | 10% |
| MERCEDES-BENZ GLC-CLASS | +18.87% | 15,569 | 13,098 | 13% | 14% |
| BMW X3 | +41.21% | 14,988 | 10,614 | 12% | 12% |
| BMW X4 | -5.93% | 1,682 | 1,788 | 1% | 2% |
| AUDI Q5 | +47.92% | 14,731 | 9,959 | 12% | 11% |
| CADILLAC XT5 | -2.77% | 8,773 | 9,023 | 7% | 10% |
| VOLVO XC60 | +41.68% | 7,890 | 5,569 | 6% | 6% |
| INFINITI QX50 | +54.08% | 6,425 | 4,170 | 5% | 5% |
| LINCOLN NAUTILUS | +2.42% | 5,372 | 5,245 | 4% | 6% |
| ALFA ROMEO STELVIO | +33.66% | 2,557 | 1,913 | 2% | 2% |
| TOTAL | +34.83% | 122,916 | 91,167 |
On a segment share basis, the Lincoln Nautilus took a 4 percent share, down from 6 percent in the year-ago quarter. The performance is substantially lower than the 23 and 14 percent held by the segment-leading Lexus RX and Acura MDX.
The luxury D-crossover segment expanded nearly 39 percent to 122,916 units during Q1 2021, meaning Lincoln Nautilus sales significantly underperformed the segment average during the quarter. In fact, Nautilus sales grew the least (on a percentage basis) out of all models that posted an increase during the quarter.
We should note that Lexus RX sales now include the two-row RX and the three-row RX L, with the three-row RX L being a rival to the new Lincoln Aviator. As such, a more apt comparison would be to pit Nautilus and Aviator sales against those of the RX.
| MODEL | Q1 21 / Q1 20 | Q1 21 | Q1 20 | Q1 21 SHARE | Q1 20 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEXUS RX | +34.03% | 27,941 | 20,847 | 71% | 66% |
| LINCOLN AVIATOR | +7.41% | 6,086 | 5,666 | 15% | 18% |
| LINCOLN NAUTILUS | +2.42% | 5,372 | 5,245 | 14% | 17% |
| TOTAL | +24.06% | 39,399 | 31,758 |
Adding Nautilus and Aviator sales nets Lincoln 11,458 combined deliveries in Q1 2021, or 16,483 units less than the Lexus RX.
The slight rebound in Lincoln Nautilus sales during Q1 2021 is welcomed news after the substantial drop experienced in Q4 2020. It is worth noting Lincoln utilities had their best retail sales start in 20 years this quarter (since 2001). That said, the Nautilus is still struggling to keep up with the segment leaders. Potential factors that may contribute to the Nautilus’s on-going struggle include:
Luckily, the 2021 Lincoln Nautilus delivers several updates in key areas, including an overhauled cockpit (interior) with new infotainment. The refreshed Nautilus has just arrived at dealerships and has begun its first sales at the end of March to further enhance and provide additional momentum to the Lincoln lineup. Here’s to hoping that this will be enough to spur interest and purchase consideration of the Nautilus.
A pretty cool tailgating rig, we'd say.
It's unclear what those export markets will consist of.
It didn't top every category, but was the best all-around.
The term could also be used on merchandise.
The exec has done this for the past couple of years.
Resulting in a huge repair bill.
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Does LINCOLN even offer the NAUTILUS livery/funeral limo/hearse version? I went to FORD FLEET and it's rather unclear since I had heard that they had dropped out of that market altogether.
We looked at the 2021 Nautilus Reserve in the showroom a few days ago. From a distance, the car looks good. Up close, the paint quality was subpar with so much orange peel. But, what struck us most was the extremely poor fit and misalignment of all the chrome trim around the windows. Pathetic!