The premium vehicle market has long been dominated by German OEMs, with the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz typically being firm favorites of customers all over the globe. But customer preference doesn’t always show the full picture; how do these fan favorite premium OEMs compare against each other and against other upcoming manufacturers in the SUV market?

In this insight, we will look at five compact SUVs currently available in the US market to determine what features and trends these manufacturers are focusing on, and see which manufacturer and model offers the most to the consumer.

The five vehicles being analyzed are as follows:

• 2022 Audi Q5
• 2022 BMW X3
• 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLC
• 2022 Porsche Macan
• 2022 Tesla Model Y

Feature Comparison

Using VehiclePlannerPlus, the five vehicles can be compared using the fitment of important features for this type of vehicle. These features have been identified as both important and useful to a modern-day premium SUV owner. The below list of features is not intended to be exhaustive, so if you’re interested in seeing some additional features for this analysis, please reach out. The features included are as follow:

• Head-up Display
• Premium Audio Speakers
• Wireless Android Auto
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Heated Steering Wheel
• Primary Leather Upholstery
• Heated Drivers Seat
• Ventilated Drivers Seat
• Moonroof / Sunroof
• LED Headlights
• Automatic Headlamp Dipping
• Ambient Lighting
• Driver Adjustable Ride Control Suspension
• Adaptive Cruise Control
• Blind Spot Monitoring
• Lane Departure Prevention

Using these features and their fitment on the five vehicles in question, a scoring system can be created to show how much customers are getting for their money, and which vehicle is the best value. The scoring system works as follows:

• Feature is Standard on the vehicle: 2 Points
• Feature is Optional on the vehicle: 1 Point
• Feature is N/A on the vehicle: 0 Points

Using this scoring method, the below chart can be created. This showcases the score for each trim of the five vehicles against that vehicles MSRP. Trendlines for each manufacturer have also been overlayed. The higher the score (X axis), and the lower the price (Y axis), the better the value. The steeper the trend line for a model, the smaller the incremental value gain relative to the $ price increase of a trim upgrade.

The key takeaways from this chart are:

1. For the features considered, Audi are providing vehicles that are not only more feature rich than their competitors but could also be perceived to be better value for money. The trim price changes are minimal compared to the gain in feature fitment.
2. Tesla have a fixed fitment strategy for the features considered. So, no matter which trim a customer chooses, the feature fitment remains the same. This points towards a focus on performance statistics when consumers upgrade Tesla trims.
3. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz fill out the mid-range of this chart, with almost all of their vehicles being $40,000-$70,000 and scoring either 18 or 19 points.

Performance and Usability

Whilst feature fitment is a very important part of why a consumer chooses a vehicle, especially an SUV, performance and usability statistics are also important for many potential consumers. Each vehicle will be analyzed on the below statistics:

• MPG
• Horsepower
• Torque
• Headunit Display Size
• Instrument Cluster Display Size
• Cargo Volume

Because of the variance in these figures across vehicle trims, the five vehicle models have had the average taken for each statistic from across their range to best show how they compare.

Conclusion

In summary, there seems to be a trend amongst the German OEMs to offer good levels of feature fitment, performance, and usability statistics, but nothing that stands out. Tesla, on the other hand, offer a set feature fitment for all trims (bar additional FSD features) and makes trim selection about performance and usability characteristics, with Tesla beating the 4 German OEMs in every statistical category that it competes in. Out of the German OEMs though, it appears that Audi offers the best feature value for money, with performance and usability statistics being comparable between the four OEMs.