Cars and Drivers

BMW Tops Mercedes for Luxury Car Sales in 2015

Paul Ausick

Published: January 11, 2016 11:45 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 3:11 pm

BMW Group reported its global sales for 2015 on Monday morning, and the luxury car maker said that sales rose 6.1% to 2.247 million units for the year. The total includes sales of the company’s Mini and Rolls-Royce brands. Vehicles bearing the BMW badge sold 1.91 million units last year.

Last week, Mercedes-Benz reported that it sold 1.99 million units last year, including the company’s smart cars. Sales of the Mercedes brand alone totaled 1.87 million units.

In the United States Mercedes-Benz fared better than BMW, with U.S. sales of its Mercedes brand totaling 350,548 for all of 2015, compared with total BMW-brand sales of 346,023. When all vehicles are included, BMW outsold Mercedes-Benz in the United States, tallying 404,537 units in 2015 to 380,461 for its rival.

For the month of December, BMW sold 213,537 units worldwide, down 0.8% year over year for the month.

Sales in Europe totaled nearly 1 million units, up 9.4% compared with 2014, and sales in the Americas rose 2.8% to nearly 500,000 units. Sales in Asia rose 4.2% to 684,121 units, of which 463,736 BMWs and Minis were sold in China.

Worldwide Mini sales rose 12% for the year to 338,466 units, the best growth rate of any of BMW’s brands. Rolls-Royce sales fell 6.8% for the year to 3,785 units. Rolls-Royce sales were the second highest on record, the company said, but headwinds in China dampened sales significantly in the country.

Rolls-Royce unveiled a drophead (convertible to us yanks) last September, and the company said that preorders for the car broke all previous records. The Dawn drophead is scheduled for first deliveries to customers in the second quarter of this year, with a starter price tag of $492,000.