March was a good month for selling luxury cars; in fact, it was the best month ever for Germany’s trio of premium automakers. Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz each posted their best-ever monthly worldwide sales last month.
The BMW brand sold 186,126 vehicles in March, up 16.9 percent, making it the brand’s most successful month ever. Sales for the first three months of the year reached 428,259, an increase of 12.3 percent.
BMW said sales of its X-vehicles were particularly strong in the first quarter. Sales of Mini vehicles were down 16.9 percent to 26,382 units in March due to the generation change of the Mini Hatch, while Rolls-Royce deliveries reached 897 units in the first quarter.
Audi delivered 170,450 vehicles worldwide, 15.4 percent more than in March 2013, and marked the 51st consecutive month with global sales growth. Boosted by March results, Audi’s cumulative sales in the first quarter rose 11.7 percent to 412,850 units, the first time ever that the company has exceeded the 400,000-units mark in the first three months.
Audi’s sales were boosted thanks to the launch of new models like the Audi A3 Sedan, A3 Cabriolet and the facelifted A8.
Mercedes-Benz also posted the best-selling month in the company’s history in March with over 158,523 vehicles being delivered to customers all over the world, 13.3 percent more than in March 2013. The company has also delivered the strongest first quarter to date with sales of 374,276 cars since the beginning of the year (+15.2 percent).
Sales of Mercedes’ compact family (A-, B-, CLA- and GLA-Class) cumulated 43,389 vehicles (up 26.4 percent).
By Dan Mihalascu
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