In February 2019, BMW USA’ sales were nearly flat increased 0.2 percent in February 2019 for a total of 23,558 compared to 23,508 vehicles sold in February 2018, a good enough performance to tighten the race with rival Mercedes-Benz. The Stuttgart-based automaker suffered the biggest drop among all premium carmakers in the United States – the U.S. leader for the last three years, saw sales slide 13 percent in February as almost all crossover and sport-utility-vehicle models slumped.

“We’re pleased to end February with a slight increase in sales given our current model changeovers,” Bernhard Kuhnt, CEO of BMW of North America, said in a statement. “As we approach spring, we do so with the all-new 3 series on showroom floors and the X7, Z4 and 8 series convertible all starting to arrive in March.”

“On the heels of a very challenging month, we are optimistic that our all-new volume models, the A-Class and GLE, will put us on track for a strong year,” said Dietmar Exler, president and CEO of MBUSA.

Mercedes-Benz volume leaders in February included the C-Class, GLC and E-Class model lines. The C-Class took the lead at 4,812, followed by GLC sales of 4,176. The E-Class rounded out the top three with 3,424 units sold.

February sales of Mercedes-AMG high-performance models totaled 3,368 units (+36.4%) and 6,250 vehicles sold year-to-date (+27.0%).

Mercedes still leads BMW by 2,507 deliveries for the first two months of the year.

Toyota’s luxury division Lexus saw its sales rose 4.4 percent, the best performance among the top four premium car brands. That was powered mostly by sales of its all-new UX subcompact crossover.

Audi, which saw its 16-month growth streak snapped last October, logged a fifth consecutive month of declines. Sales tumbled 12 percent, marred by a 15 percent drop in Q7 SUV deliveries.

Porsche Cars North America announced that February retail sales rose 10.1 percent from a year earlier to 4,826. It was a second record month in a row, getting 2019 off to a strong start.

Tesla Inc. does not report monthly results. Automotive News estimated the EV maker sold 18,200 vehicles in the U.S. last month, which would place it fourth ahead of Audi.