Photo: Mercedes-Benz
The current world order is being threatened. BMW has been the global leader in terms of sales for the past few years, while Audi was quietly sitting in second place and Mercedes-Benz seemed happy with third. But we all know Audi’s quietness was just a front while Mercedes-Benz could never settle for third. Or second, for that matter.
The model offensive launched by Mercedes-Benz in recent years is finally doing what it was supposed to do from the very beginning: pay dividends. Proof of that comes from the global July sales report that shows that last month was the first this year in which Mercedes-Benz finished ahead of its two main rivals, BMW and Audi.
We all know the rapid growth of the Chinese market has now come a similarly rapid halt and that luxury cars are not selling like hot cakes anymore over there either, so what seemed like the last bastion of hope for a revival of the automotive industry is slowly crumbling to the ground
Not for Mercedes-Benz though. Boosted by very good sales of its compact range and C-Class mid-sized sedan in China, the Stuttgart brand had a global sales rise of 15 percent with a total of 149,753 vehicles sold. By contrast, Audi only managed to deliver 146,100 units while BMW had 147,513 vehicles to show for.
The race is far from over
No foregone conclusions, then, as the race is still pretty close and the tables can turn at any moment. Audi has recently launched the new Q7 large SUV while BMW is getting ready for its main event of the year - the launch of the 7 Series flagship luxury limousine, so there will be added firepower for the two in the recent future.
The fact that both Audi and Mercedes-Benz have pledged to overthrow BMW as the world’s best-selling luxury manufacturer by the end of the decade. As you can imagine, nobody at BMW was promised a bonus if they dropped to second place. This should make things interesting.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that after the first seven months of 201, Mercedes-Benz is trailing Audi by just 272 cars sold worldwide, which is something of a photo-finish at this level. If the trend remains unabated, Mercedes-Benz and Audi will surely make the switch by the end of the year.
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