German Automakers' Sales Tick Up Worldwide

The major German luxury automakers - AudiAudiGermany, 1909 > present83 models
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, BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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and Mercedes-BenzMercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
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- have released their financial information for May, and all of them are having their own ups and down. The common part is that while all of them have higher sales than last year, Europe continues to struggle. 

BMW leads the German luxury makers in May sales with 139,161 cars sold in the month. Audi is in a close second with 137,200 cars sold in May, and Mercedes sold 121,360 cars in May. The order is the same in terms sales from January to May with BMW leading by just 10,968 cars.

Audi

Audi sold 137,200 cars in May worldwide, up 6.4%, and it has sold 640,200 cars so far this year, up 6.7%. 

Audi has falling sales in Europe. It sold 65,500 cars in May, down 3.4%. It has sold 318,600 cars in Europe so far this year, down 0.7%. Sales are down in Germany, France and Italy. Spanish sales were up 0.5% to 3,333, but sales for the year so far are down 1.7% to 17,622 cars. 

“Despite ongoing challenges in the European market, Audi increased global sales in May. Double-digit rates of growth in Asia and the Americas played a crucial role,” said Luca de Meo, head of sales for Audi. 

Audi moved 13,228 cars in the United States, up 15%, and it has sold 60,571 cars through May of this year in the US, up 15.4%. The Q5Audi Q5 Gen.1Germany, 2008 > 201663 versions
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is the best-selling Audi model in the US with 14,817 cars sold so far this year. It sold 1,060 cars in Mexico, up 39.8%, and through May, it has sold 4,613 cars, up 51%. 

In Asia, Audi sold 48,900 cars in May, up 17.5%, and it has sold 218,500 cars in Asia so far this year, up 15.6%. China represented 42,140 of those sales for May, up 16.2%, and it has sold 183,660 cars there through May, up 14.4%.

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz sold 121,360 cars worldwide in May, up 7.3%, and has sold 562,824 cars from January to May of this year, up 5.9%.

In Europe, Mercedes sold 57,759 cars, up 4.9%, and has sold 264,944 cars there so far this year, up 4.4%. 

In North America, Mercedes sold 28,639 cars in May, up 9.1%, and it has sold 133,439 cars through May of this year, up 9.3%. Of those sales, 24,713 of them came from the US in May, up 9.8%. Mercedes-Benz has sold 117,535 cars in the US so far this year, up 10.5%.  

Mercedes sold 30,723 cars in May, up 10.1%, and it has sold 142,288 cars there from January to May, up 4%. Chinese sales are actually posing a problem for Mercedes-Benz. While sales in May were up 7.0% to 17,684 cars, for the year from January to May it has sold 3.8% fewer cars this year at 79,365 cars.

Smart sales are also struggling worldwide. It has sold 8,680 cars in May, down 8.3%, and it has sold 43,052 cars from January to May, down 6.4%.  

BMW

BMW Group sales were up 6% for May to 166,397 cars, which makes the month the best May sales ever for BMW. From January through May, BMW Group sold 770,025 cars, up 5.8%, which is its best ever in the first five months of the year. 

"We could offset the headwinds in Europe through solid gains in other markets such as the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. We expect further successful months ahead, assisted by the launch of exceptional new products such as the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo on the 15th June and the newly modified BMW 5 SeriesBMW 5 Series Gen.6 [F10]Germany, 2010 > 2016180 versions
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in July,” said BMW head of sales and marketing Ian Robertson.

The BMW brand sold 139,161 cars worldwide in May, up 7.8%. Over 10% of those sales were for the X1BMW X1Germany, 2009 > present51 versions
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, and the 3 SeriesBMW BMW 3 Series Gen.6 [F30/F31]Germany, 2012 > present115 versions
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represents a further 30% of worldwide sales. It has sold 651,168 cars from January to May worldwide, a 7.2% increase. 

MiniMINI (BMW)Germany, 2000 > present15 models
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is currently BMW's weakest brand. The company sold 26,995 cars worldwide in May, a 2.1% reduction from last year. It has sold 117,694 cars from January to May of this year, a 1.5% fall over last year. 

BMW Group sold 74,918 cars in Europe in May, 0.6% lower than last year.  For the year through May, BMW Group has sold 352,013 cars in Europe, up 2.2%. 

BMW Group sales in North America were up 10.4% to 38,771 cars. Of those, 31,174 cars went to the United States, a 10.1% increase. BMW did not release total sales numbers for North America from January to May. 

Asian sales are also strong for BMW Group. It sold 46,838 cars in May, 13.4%. Of those, 31,938 went to China, a 14.8% increase. BMW also did not release total sales for Asia from January to May.