The BMW brand had its strongest October sales performance ever to top Mercedes-Benz, which recorded its best month so far this year.
While BMW and Mercedes-Benz duke it out for the top two spots, Lexus had its 13th consecutive month of sales gains.
BMW, 2014’s top-selling luxury brand through October, sold 30,602 vehicles last month for an 11 percent year-over-year boost. The BMW brand’s 2014 sales, which exclude Mini results, are trending 11 percent better than at this point in 2013.
Although Mercedes-Benz had its highest sales month so far this year, with 28,593 vehicles sold, excluding Sprinter vans, its October sales still were 5 percent lower than the year-earlier period. The company says numbers lagged because October 2013’s sales numbers were aided by the entry-level CLA’s launch.
Through October, Mercedes sales were up 7 percent after moving 261,804 vehicles -- 5,389 less than BMW’s 267,193. The top Mercedes gainer was the S class, which had a 39 percent jump from the year-earlier period with 2,666 sales.
Tom Libby, an IHS Automotive analyst, said BMW leads its Mercedes-Benz by just 5,389 sales through the first ten months of this year.
"With such a small gap in sales through ten months, the two makes will most likely use marketing tools extensively through the end of the year, including numerous types of incentives, to gain an edge," he wrote in a report Monday. "This should put downward pressure on retail prices, making this fall and year-end an ideal time for consumers to consider a BMW or Mercedes-Benz product."
BMW’s October uptick was powered by the 7 series’ 170 percent gain after 1,680 sedans were sold. The X5 crossover also had a strong month, with 3,355 sold, good enough for a 57 percent rise from the year-earlier period.
“The momentum is still with us as shown by back-to-back monthly records for BMW in October and September,” BMW of North America CEO Ludwig Willisch said in a statement Monday. “Our new models, especially the 2 and 4 series, are giving BMW a great boost as we head into the final two months of the year, but I am also very pleased to see our born-electric BMW i3 doing so well, averaging a thousand per month in sales after only four months on the market.”
Lexus and Audi gains
Lexus, with sales tracking 14 percent higher this year through 10 months, moved 23,355 vehicles in October for a 3 percent increase from the year-earlier period.
Toyota’s luxury arm has sold 244,038 vehicles through October.
The Lexus CT led the way with a 38 percent jump in October with 1,158 sales. The Lexus GX had the largest gain among the brand’s SUVs, with a 29 percent boost with 1,936 sales.
Meanwhile, Audi’s October sales rose 17 percent from the previous year after moving 15,150 vehicles. It’s the brand’s 46th consecutive month of record monthly U.S. sales.
The Q7 crossover saw the largest increase last month, with 1,738 sales, which amounted to a 24 percent increase from October 2013.
Mark Del Rosso, Audi of America’s COO, said in a statement, “We can confidently predict that 2014 will end as the fifth-consecutive record year for Audi sales in the U.S.”
