The long-time leader in the luxury car segment is well on its way to being deposed. In the first quarter of 2016, Mercedes-Benz sold 483,487 luxury cars, compared with 478,743 for BMW. Mercedes sales rose 12.6% in the quarter, compared with a rise of 6.0% for BMW.
For the month of March, BMW sold 201,352 units worldwide, a record according to the company’s announcement. Mercedes posted global monthly sales of 198,921 units, up 8.4% year over year, compared with growth of just 2.9% for BMW.
Year over year, European sales rose 12.4% to 210,586 units for Mercedes in the first quarter and sales in China were up 36.4% to 106,641 units, while U.S. sales slipped 3.1% to 75,769 units.
BMW reported U.S. sales of its BMW and Mini brands that totaled 100,081 units in the quarter, down 8.6% year over year. Sales of only BMW-branded vehicles totaled 70,613 units in the quarter, according to Kelley Blue Book.
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Sales of Mercedes compact cars rose nearly 22% in March to 66,930 units globally. For the first quarter, the company said it sold more than 150,000 compact cars worldwide. Sport utility vehicle (SUV) sales rose 44.4% year over year in March to 62,595 units worldwide. The company said growth was particularly strong in China, the United States, Germany and Britain.
At BMW, the entry-level 2 Series posted a year-over-year sales bump of 56.3% in the first quarter. Compact crossovers X1 and X3 posted year-over-year sales gains of 67.7% and 27.2%, respectively, in the quarter.
Overall, the news is not good for BMW. While sales are growing, they are not growing as fast as Mercedes sales. Partly that’s due to refreshed models at Mercedes, while BMW won’t see much in the way of refreshed designs until next year. Mercedes had set a goal to become the world’s largest luxury carmaker by 2020. Right now the only question seems to be how quickly the company will beat that goal.
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