Having lost the number one spot when it comes to luxury car sales back in 2005 to BMW, and then being passed by Audi as well in 2008, the three-pointed star manufacturer is now in a full-on race against the aforementioned makers by 2020.
Why 2020? Well, that is the deadline that all three German car makers gave themselves to become the real number one, albeit it is not known why they all chose this exact year.
Although BMW and Audi are not exactly sitting still, increasing their global sales constantly, it seems that starting with 2013 Mercedes-Benz has continued to bite back and grow even faster than its two archenemies.
For the first six months of 2014, for example, the three-pointed star has posted their strongest ever half-year sales results in the company’s history.
“The first half of the year was extremely successful for us”, said Ola Källenius, Member of the Divisional Board Mercedes-Benz Cars responsible for Marketing & Sales and ex AMG boss. “With the unit sales of our vehicles, we are on track to make 2014 into yet another record year.”
Since the beginning of 2014, Mercedes-Benz has handed over 783,520 cars to its customers, representing an increase of 12.8 percent compared with the same period of 2013 and an all-time record. The month of June alone saw the company deliver 142,136 passengers cars globally, representing an increase of eight percent compared with last year’s June and a record in its own right.
In fact, Mercedes-Benz saw sales increases in every single large market it is present on, with the biggest numbers being achieved in China, where it managed to sell 37.5 percent more cars than in the first six months of 2013.
With a number of high-volume models on the way in the upcoming two years (GLK X205 and E-Class W213 just to name a few), analysts predict that the current sales trend will continue at Mercedes-Benz, but keep in mind that both BMW and Audi haven’t yet drawn all their aces from their sleeves.
By Alex Oagana
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