The battle for luxury brand supremacy in the U.S. between the two main German contenders is far from over. Last month, Mercedes-Benz saw its sales increase by 23%, to 22,637 units, overtaking BMW that delivered 21,873 vehicles.
Mercedes sales have increased despite the fact that it reduced discounts by an average of 15% per vehicle in October, while its Munich-based rival increases its own incentives by 35%.
The explanation lies in the impressive 88% increase in C-Class deliveries, which boosted Mercedes’ sales. Increased demand for the updated model allowed the carmaker to lower its incentives. BMW, on the other hand, is trying to clear its 3-Series stock in anticipation of the brand-new 2012 model.
It’s not as though BMW really suffered in October, though: its sales actually increased by 13% to 21,873 units, and with 199,552 vehicles delivered in the first 10 months of the year, it is still in first place followed by Mercedes, which so far has sold 192,695 vehicles.
And what about the rest of the contenders in the premium segment, we hear you ask? Well, former number one Lexus, which has been relegated to third place after leading for 11 consecutive years, decreased its incentives by 12% and saw its sales drop by 14% last month, to 18,092.
GM’s Cadillac didn’t fare too good either. Even though the SRX crossover recorded a 13% increase in sales, the CTS fell by 7.6%. The result was a 12% decrease in total sales. Cadillac vice president of sales noted though that both BMW and Mercedes outspend Cadillac in incentives by an average of $1,500 and $800 on each vehicle respectively.
Story References: Bloomberg
PHOTO GALLERY
