27T

http://www.leftlanenews.com/bmw-thre...ales-lead.html

BMW THREATENING MERCEDES' LUXURY SALES LEAD

The United States' luxury car sales race will come down to the final month of the year as BMW was able to trim Mercedes-Benz' already narrow lead with a strong month of November sales.

Thanks to a 64 percent increase in demand for the company's 5-Series model, BMW's November sales shot up 45 percent to 31,213 vehicles. Mercedes' U.S. sales, meanwhile, increased 13 percent to 30,315 units in November, helped by a 59 percent sales spike of its E-Class sedan.

For the year, BMW's sales stand at 244,061 units, trailing Mercedes-Benz' 245,910 sales by just 1,849 vehicles.

Last year BMW slipped by Mercedes-Benz for the U.S. sales title, outselling its cross-country rival 247,907 to 245,192. Both brands finished ahead of Toyota's Lexus brand, which had been the country's best-selling luxury brand for the previous 11 years.

Lexus' sales have increased 23 percent this year, but its 213,559 total sales are nowhere close to its German rivals.

nosnoop

But for global sales, BMW is way ahead. And in fact, Mercedes has dropped well behind Audi in global sales as well. The sore spot for Mercedes is China, which has become the single largest car market for BMW. Mercedes has got to improve its lack luster sales in China to have any chance of catching BMW and Audi.

Pntblnk

Thanks for posting. I will use the data in my negotiations this week. I have to assume MBUSA will be offering some decent trunk money to ensure the keep the edge. If I remember right, BMW snuck past them at the last minute with heavy December leasing discounts and some questionable "dealer pre-sales" tactics.

katiesdad7

Sales people doing "questionable" things? Say it isn't so.

Pntblnk

Go figure, right? This one was a little different. I don't remember the full story but the summary was that in the quest to beat MB - BMW offered to sell the new cars to the dealers at a steep discount + financing and then let dealers then run them through the CPO program vs new car.

This wasn't a few cars but hundreds with full knowledge of BMW USA. There was some serious "gray area" in that process for sure.

katiesdad7

What is the advantage of running them thru the CPO programs since they are new cars? Just curious.

Pntblnk

BMW gets credit for the "new car sale", the dealer buys at a steep discount and BMW warranties the car as a CPO. Key was the dealers had to take possession of the car as owners with title. No longer "new".

LazKat

I've been given a build date of 12/14 - next Friday. The SA indicated that I "might" get it by end of year. I said that's not realistic and she said she'll try since she's going on vacation out of country in early January. I told her I'd see her when she gets back. With that as background, do you think they'll try to rush it to get it delivered by Dec 31st? I don't even think that's reasonable to expect.

I've waited since July so a little more won't matter to me. I've decided to run my 200K mile GM through the winter and keep the ML garaged anyhow.

hutch300

Why so upset... this is totally off topic and MB is working with you. Any car can have issues its life.