Mercedes regains Q1 global luxury crown

Mercedes managed to grow at a double rate as compared BMW, in the first quarter of 2016, and takes the pole-position to regain the global luxury crown at the end of year. After a decade of BMW dominance in the premium segment, Mercedes-Benz is closer than ever to retake the title this year.

Daimler’s unit reported last week that it managed to boost its unit sales in last month by 8.4% to 198,921 vehicles, setting a monthly record, while it also achieved the best first quarter in its history with total sales of 483,487 units, up 12.6%.

Its main rival BMW has just posted its monthly and quarterly global figures, and the brand’s sales topped the 200,000 mark in a single month, to a total of 201,352 units last month, an increase of 2.9%. However, even if the Munich-based automaker also achieved record numbers for the first three months of the year with a total of 478,743 vehicles delivered, up 6%, it sits behind Mercedes.

The third contender, Volkswagen’s Audi, boosted its global sales by 4.6% to a monthly high of around 186,100 that brings the overall deliveries since January to around 455,750 cars, 4% more than in the same quarter last year.

Mercedes’ growth will probably go further, as CEO Dieter Zetsche expects even better sales and profits once the brand’s most important model; the new E-Class – is available for sale in all major markets. The new mid-sized premium sedan has just started to be delivered to the first customers in Europe and will be launched on the international markets in the second half of the year.