BMW, Mercedes-Benz Battle For Premium Segment Lead, Audi Trails

The Munich-based automaker was last month’s winner in battle between the three German premium manufacturers.

With 163,965 vehicles, BMW recorded a sales increase of 7.9 percent, followed by Mercedes-Benz Cars, with 143,767 (up 11.8 percent) and Audi closing the podium with 126,500 units (up 3.3 percent).

Sales in Europe were strong, with the Bavarian brand, which managed to deliver 11.4% more BMW and MINI vehicles (277,304 total) in the first two months of the year. In fact, all markets achieved a sales growth, with double-digit recorded in several countries, including Italy (+12.4%), France (+13.2%) and Spain (+22.5%).

In January and February, Mercedes-Benz Cars sold more vehicles worldwide than BMW, with 303,905 deliveries accounting for a 15.6 percent increase, while Audi delivered 3.6 percent more cars to their customers, at 269,650.

In North America, BMW scored a total of 25,337 sales, including the MINI brand, down 12.4 percent from 28,921 last month, but Mercedes-Benz has seen a 0.4 percent increase with 26,852 units delivered in the NAFTA region. Audi sold approximately 14,450 vehicles in North America, last month, with the USA remaining the largest markets (11,718 units; +2.3%), while Canada and Mexico have witnessed a double-digit growth, by 18.9% and 15.6%, respectively.

BMW’s best-sellers in February were its compact and SUV vehicles, such as the X1, X3, 1-Series and 2-Series, while the three-pointed star “focused” on the A-Class, B-Class, CLA, GLA and GLC.