Mercedes beats BMW in Oct. 2011 sales, BMW still holds lead for the year

2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe

For the first time in a couple of months, Mercedes-Benz USA sold more cars than its German rival, BMW in the United States last month. Benz credits the increase to the new C-Class model lineup.

Mercedes-Benz’s U.S. sales jumped 23 percent to 22,637 units while BMW’s sales were up 13 percent to 21,873. In October, BMW boosted incentives by 35 percent per vehicle while Benz’s discounts fell by 15 percent and discounts from Lexus fell 12 percent.

BMW still keeps the lead for the year with 199,552 units sold.

“There was weakness on the 3 series for BMW as it’s winding down,” Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends at TrueCar.com in Santa Monica, Calif. “Dealers were pressured to aggressively clear out the end of the model year. Mercedes has newer products so they can create value with less incentives.”

Lexus sales last month fell 14 percent to 18,092.

The Japanese luxury brand has been the top-selling luxury brand in the U.S. for the past 11 years. Its lead over BMW narrowed to 9,216 in 2010.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News