An unusual delay in the sales number reporting are firing up even more rumors around the winner of the U.S. 2011 luxury vehicle sales. According to Bloomberg, BMW may have outsold Mercedes-Benz last month and therefore keeping its slight lead reported in November.

The newspaper says BMW sales rose 16 percent to 27,000 in December compared to a year earlier.

According to Autodata, BMW, with total U.S. 2011 sales estimated at 248,073, outsold Mercedes by 2,804 vehicles.

Kenn Sparks, a BMW spokesman, said to Bloomberg that the final numbers will come out today.

Stay tuned!