Mercedes-Benz solidified its sales lead over the BMW and Audi brand in the first half of the year, moving closer to a goal of unseating its main rival BMW for the first time since 2005.
BMW’s 6-month brand deliveries rose 5.8% from a year earlier to 986,557, compared with a 12% gain to just over 1 million cars for the Mercedes brand. That left BMW trailing by 20,062 vehicles for the No. 1 position. In 3rd place was Audi who sold 953,200 a rise of 5.6%.
Mercedes is set to deliver 4 years early on a target of beating BMW’s annual sales. Audi has also said it wants to become No. 1 in the luxury-auto sales. All three have stressed that growth mustn’t come at the expense of profitability.
During June, BMW delivered 189,097 cars, a gain of 9.7%, as demand rose for 2-Series sedans and the company’s SUV lineup.
That compares with Mercedes’s 11% jump to 188,444 autos that was also propelled by a surge in SUV demand. Audi remained in 3rd place with 169,000 deliveries, a gain of 7.4%.
European car manufacturers are under pressure to invest in new products and technologies such as electric cars to keep pace with emissions regulations as well as changing consumer expectations that focus more on connected services than actual driving.
BMW said it received 5,000 orders for its revamped electric i3 city car with an improved driving range before the model became available this month.
