The battle for first place in the luxury segment is raging on and, as the numbers for September came in, Mercedes-Benz has reported its best month ever.
The automaker sold a record 225,273 passenger automobiles last month, of which 13,987 came from Smart, and 211,286 from the Mercedes-Benz brand.
The automaker reports that its success was fueled by the launch of the new E-Class, as well as its SUVs. European markets made up the lion’s share of the sales at 98,877, compared to 72,670 in the Asia-Pacific region and 34,488 in North America.
By country, China accounted for the most sales at 46,443, compared to 29,500 in the United States, and 27,640 in Germany.
Although BMW has yet to report its sales figures for September 2016, Benz’s figures are better than any that its Bavarian rival has posted to date. Munich’s best month was recorded this past March, when the core brand sold 201,352 vehicles. Combined with Mini (39,061) and Rolls-Royce (246) sales, however, the BMW Group outperformed Daimler, with combined automobile sales of 240,659 units (plus another 16,465 motorcycles). But of course the Volkswagen Group is still the biggest player in the country.
Audi also recorded its best month in March, when it sold 186,100 vehicles worldwide, out of the 967,100 vehicles sold by the entire Volkswagen Group that month. Audi clearly has some a bit further to go before it catches up to either Mercedes or BMW in the luxury marketplace – and from the rest, none is expected to come within striking distance any time soon.
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