BMW came ahead of Mercedes-Benz in U.S. luxury sales in January, for the first time in 2017. Deliveries of the X3 and X5 SUVs climbed 43 percent and 35 percent last month, respectively, giving BMW total sales of 31,015 vehicles, or 1,900 units more than its competitor from Stuttgart. Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased 3.3 percent in March. Year-to-date, the BMW brand is up 1.5 percent in the U.S. on sales of 71,682 vehicles compared to 70,613 sold in the first three months of 2016.

The victory in March pulled BMW to within 7,500 vehicle sales of Mercedes through the first three months of the year.

“With the arrival of Spring, thoughts naturally turn to new cars and March gave us a nice boost as our Sports Activity Vehicles, the X3 and X5 in particular, continue to drive the growing demand,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “Our new BMW 5 Series is just breaking into what is a difficult market for sedans but orders are solid and with two more variants on their way, we are optimistic for the months ahead.”

 

Mercedes has sold 79,141 vehicles in the U.S. this year through March, compared with BMW’s 71,682 units.

Both manufacturers are focused on selling larger, higher-margin vehicles in order to help finance a push into electric self-driving cars.

[Source: Bloomberg]