Mercedes-Benz Believes BMW Will Overtake Them For US Sales Crown

Mercedes-Benz expects to lose its lead in the U.S. luxury market to German rival BMW , which is expected to be aggressive in its incentive strategy this month.

The automakers have been in a tight race for the top spot in the competitive U.S. luxury market, with Mercedes slightly ahead of BMW by about 2,000 vehicles through November.

But a top Mercedes executive said on Thursday that the luxury nameplate will likely fall back, even as it posts record U.S. sales of more than 270,000 for the year.

"I don't think we're going to win the sales race this year," Steve Cannon, the head of Mercedes-Benz USA, told reporters during a luncheon in Detroit.

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merc07 - 12/14/2012 4:51:57 PM

+1 Boost

Mercedes is fine. To hear autospies tell it, they will be out of business tomorrow. I never understood why autospies is anti anything not BMW.

cidflekken - 12/14/2012 5:17:56 PM

+2 Boost

As much as I agree that AutoSpies does have a bias towards BMW, I don't feel they are reflecting a doomsday attitude for Mercedes. I think they are just reporting what's being reported. Now, ask them about Honda/Acura…. :-)

Once Mercedes introduces the A-class range to the US, including the hatchback, the CLA, and the GLA, sales races like this may be irrelevant because Mercedes' lead would be much higher. I think next year might be different as well. The C-Class has proven to be quite the sales contender with the 3-Series this year. However, with the pending introduction of the 4Series, that may change significantly as the 3-Series coupe was hugely popular and many buyers might be holding out for the new coupe.

iamdabest1 - 12/15/2012 7:15:47 PM

+1 Boost

i love all the updates both manufacturers make.
every time i think im about to get one car, another company releases some news that makes me think " thats my next car" .. a few days later, im thinking about another car..

BMWCCA1 - 12/17/2012 11:17:34 PM

+1 Boost

Last I looked, M-B had a pretty substantial lead and BMW has added nothing to their incentives they've been offering since the first of November. M-B is offering far more incentive money one every model and all BMW has done is to increase the sales goal for its dealerships for the month to make them give more cars away to meet their AVP quota. It sounds to me like the M-B rep is downplaying so they can announce a big come-back.