BMW Beaten By German Peers

Audi and Mercedes-Benz both outsold BMW globally in January, bumping the world’s best-selling luxury car brand from its perch for the month.

Audi, the second biggest luxury brand globally last year, took the top spot in January with sales rising 10% to 137,700 vehicles. Mercedes, which was No. 3, delivered 125,865 cars, a 14% jump. BMW failed to keep pace with sales increasing 6.3% to 124,561 cars.

“This looks like a pretty significant decline in growth compared to Mercedes and Audi,” said Juergen Pieper, a Frankfurt-based analyst with Bankhaus Metzler. “I think this will continue during the next few months.”

BMW, the biggest maker of luxury cars since 2005, is under increasing pressure as models like the 7-Series sedan and X3 SUV. Both Mercedes and Audi have vowed to take the luxury sales crown by 2020. To underpin its effort, Audi plans to spend 24 billion euros on new models and expanding production in the next five years. Mercedes this year is rolling out the new GLE coupe crossover to challenge the BMW X6 as the Daimler unit refreshes most of its sport-utility vehicles.

Still, Munich-based BMW plans to fight back. It’s targeting a fifth consecutive record in annual deliveries backed by new offerings including a convertible version of the 2-Series compact and an upgraded X6.

“There are a number of very exciting model launches coming up this year,” Ian Robertson, BMW’s sales chief, said today in a statement. “We are aiming for further growth in 2015, despite still challenging economic conditions in some markets.”

-Elisabeth Behrmann in Munich