Mercedes-Benz topples Audi in september sales on compact cars
By Bloomberg
Mercedes-Benz shipped more vehicles last month than competitor Audi AG, pushing into second place in the luxury car sales race behind Bayerische Motoren Werke AG.
The Mercedes brand sold 162,746 vehicles in September, helped by demand for its compact cars and the S-Class, and beating Audi by about 2,800 autos. Munich-based BMW said today that its nameplate delivered 167,584 cars last month.
Mercedes and Volkswagen AG's Audi have both said they will unseat BMW as the world's biggest seller of luxury cars by the end of this decade. Mercedes is making progress toward that target: its sales have grown at a faster clip since the beginning of this year than those of either rival.
"We have never sold as many Mercedes-Benz vehicles as in September and at the same time achieved the strongest quarter in the company's history," Ola Kaellenius, head of sales at Stuttgart, Germany-based Mercedes, said when the Daimler AG unit reported its figures on Oct. 7. After its strongest quarter ever, the company will start the final three months of the year with at least 10 percent growth, he said.
Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche has said he'll woo customers with a dozen new Mercedes vehicles, including more variants of its top-of-the-line S-Class. The brand lost its No. 1 luxury position to BMW in 2005 and then fell behind Audi in 2011.
Audi is relying for growth on the new A3 sedan it's rolling out this year in the U.S. and China, where the vehicle started local production in September.
Mercedes global sales rose 13 percent to 1.2 million vehicles in the first nine months this year. Audi deliveries jumped 10 percent to 1.3 million cars and sport-utility vehicles, outpacing BMW's 9.1 percent increase to 1.32 million autos. All three carmakers are set to report record deliveries this year.