The Mercedes-Benz brand gained further ground against larger premium competitors BMW brand and Audi last month as demand for the CLA coupe fueled sales for the automaker’s compact models. Sales at the brand rose 15 percent from a year earlier in October to 126,421 cars and SUVs. That beat 5 percent growth at BMW and a 7 percent gain at Audi.
BMW, Audi and Mercedes are all targeting record global deliveries in 2013, seeking to attract buyers with new vehicles such as the CLA, BMW’s 4-series coupe and a new version of Audi’s A3 compact. Audi and Mercedes are competing to overtake BMW as the world’s biggest luxury-car seller by the end of the decade.
Ten-month sales by Mercedes rose 11 percent to 1.19 million, the company said on Nov. 6. BMW said today that its namesake brand’s deliveries in October totaled 140,057, pushing the 10-month figure up 9 percent to 1.35 million. Audi sold 131,950 vehicles in October, with deliveries in the first 10 months rising 8 percent to 1.31 million.
