BMW pulling away from Mercedes?

The world's two biggest luxury carmakers saw strong sales last month but despite a record September at DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz, the group was left behind by larger archrival BMW.

BMW increased sales by 11.4 percent to 131,705 vehicles in September thanks to robust demand at its core BMW marque, it said on Friday.

Sales of BMW brand cars and sport utility vehicles (SUV) rose 13.5 percent last month to 111,518 units, while Mini brand sales managed only a 1.0 percent increase to 20,112 cars.

In the first nine months, group deliveries to customers totaled 988,463 units, also a gain of 11.4 percent, as the company continued to exceed its own full-year forecast for growth of 9 percent.

Daimler's long dominant Mercedes Car Group continued to lose ground to its Munich-based competitor, as sales grew only 4.9 percent in September to 117,900 vehicles.

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janos2769 - 10/13/2005 12:25:24 PM

+1 Boost

it is easy to sell cars when you discount them in desperation. They would not sell at their normal prices because they are plain ugly and that has lowered their resale value.

Number of cars sold alone should not be used as a measure of people's choice for a brand. If Kia solf their sporty car for $5 a piece, would that signify that Kia is the preferred brand?

Who are you kidding by giving sales numbers without also comparing profits? (Ford and GM sell a ton more cars but they loose money doing it!)