The German company Mercedes-Benz has finished third consecutive year as the world’s largest premium car manufacturer, outpacing its major rival BMW with around 200,000 sales.
According to the information, Mercedes-Benz finished last year with 2,310,000 sales, which is 0.9% more than 2017. A serious reason for the success of the brand is the new A-Class, which recorded excellent sales in the last quarter of the year.
The result of BMW is 2,200,000 new car sales worldwide, with the Bavarians recording an increase of 1.8% YoY. About 1/3 of the brand’s sales are attributed to SUV models.
Audi is ranked third with 1,870,000 sales in 2017, but registering a decrease of 3.5% YoY.
The most important premium-car market remains the one in China where the growth of Mercedes and BMW is 11%, while that of Audi is 7.7%. At the same time, all three brands reported a decline in Europe, with Audi recording a drop of 14%. The sale of Mercedes in Europe dropped by 2.3%, while BMW decreased by 0.3%.
In the United States, the BMW also registered an increase of 0.5%, while the Mercedes recorded a decrease of 6.3% and Audi by 1.4%.
