BMW outsold Audi and Mercedes-Benz in December to round off a 10th year as the world’s top selling luxury carmaker – but its two German rivals have reduced its advantage.
Deliveries by BMW’s core brand jumped 14% last month to 177,954 cars. That took full-year sales to a record 1.81m, up 10%, the company said on Friday, citing strong demand in China and the United States.
Mercedes-Benz, which dropped into third place behind Audi in 2011 in the three-way German luxury contest, beat its rival for a second straight month with December sales of 163,171 vehicles, a 17% gain, the company said.
By comparison, Audi, the Volkswagen-owned luxury division, sold 150,000 models, a 15% increase on year-ago levels.
Over the year Munich-based BMW sold 1.81 million vehicles worldwide, 9.5% more than in 2013. Audi increased sales by 10.5% to 1.74 million. Mercedes-Benz came in third with 1.65m, up 12.9%.
BMW marketing chief Ian Robertson said the company was able to increase sales in all important regions thanks to strong demand for new models such as the X4, the 2-Series Active Tourer and the electric i3, which uses advanced carbon fibre materials to save weight.
At Mercedes, China overtook Germany as the brand’s second-largest market behind the US. Sales in China rose 29.1% to 281,588 vehicles.
Analysts said BMW, Audi and Mercedes may keep increasing sales further this year but pointed to signs of slowing momentum in North America and China.
“Demand in the US appears to have outpaced underlying economic growth and the expansion in China is slowing,” said Frankfurt-based Commerzbank analyst Sascha Gommel. “The German premiums will keep growing but at a slower rate.”
