BMW Tops Worldwide Luxury Car Sales but Mercedes is Closing In Fast

Giancarlo Perlas December 12, 2013

Chart Source: Bloomberg

Despite the lead that Mercedes has in the US over its biggest rivals in the luxury car variant, namely BMW and Audi, it seems like it came up short in terms of worldwide luxury car sales against the two.

According to Bloomberg, BMW has sold over 1.5 million of its “Ultimate Driving Machines” from January to November of 2013. The figures have overtaken Audi’s 1.44 million worldwide luxury car sales and Mercedes’ 1.32 million so far. In the majority of the months of 2013 leading to November, BMW has outsold Audi and Mercedes in seven months.

Geographically, BMW dominated the Asian region despite Mercedes reigning in the US soil. In Europe, the gap between the two is getting close though.

With the end of 2013 coming in, BMW is certainly poised to make its mark again as the best-selling luxury car brand. However, Mercedes seems to be catching up with it in worldwide luxury car sales.

Chart Source: Bloomberg

Based on the momentum shown by Daimler in the market, experts say that the gap between Mercedes and BMW is expected to come to a close by March next year. Most say that Mercedes may even surpass its rival during that period if its momentum continues to build up.

The data provided by Bloomberg showed that the momentum of Daimler topped its two biggest rivals seven times between January to November this year. The data was based on the percentage change over 2012 levels.

Although Daimler’s momentum seemed to be at an all-time low last February, it suddenly spiked up in July and has steadily maintained a high momentum against Audi and BMW up to November.

The source claimed that the compact models released by Mercedes this year have strongly contributed to the success of the brand. In particular, the CLA-Class coupe has been selling hot in the US.