Hot! 2014 Mercedes/BMW/Audi USA Sales

[EnI]

After the defeat in 2013 by 3,254 units BMW have reclaimed the US luxury car sales crown from MB in 2014 by 9,341 units!


BMW brand (w/o MINI):
December 2014: 41,526 (+11.1%) ... Total 2014: 339,738 (+9.8%)
(link)

MB brand (w/o smart & Sprinter van):
December 2014: 34,009 (+3.0%) ... Total 2014: 330,391 (+5.7%)
(link)

Audi brand:
December 2014: 19,238 (+13.1%) ... Total 2014: 182,011 (+15.2%)
(link)

Lexus brand:
December 2014: 39,879 (+14.7%) ... Total 2014: 311,389 (+13.7%)

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Looks like BMW had massive month in December, smashing out the 3/4-series and X5. Looking at the September, October and November sales, I am slightly suspicious about the 'sales' activity in December which is drastically inconsistent with the preceding months.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bmw-group-us-reports-september-2014-sales-277764181.html
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bmw-group-us-reports-october-2014-sales-281334571.html
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bmw-group-us-reports-november-2014-sales-300003576.html

S-class is still selling a storm in the US, which is good to see! The more S-class's they can sell globally, the better it will be for Mercedes margins.

Lexus is resurgent once again, may take the crown in 2015.

 

[Merc1]

I bet BMW is going to see a huge drop in January because of all those cars they shipped last month. Mercedes could have done better with some of their core lines like the E, GL and CLS. The GLA should be selling better too and the CLA should have killed it in Dec, but didn't.

M

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

It really depends on how they wanted to 'market' and 'incentivise' the product. I suspect MBUSA made the decision not to manipulate December sales, for whatever reason.

This whole 'shipping' nonsense should be cracked down on in sales reporting. A car in a customers hands is a sale, not a car sitting on some dealer lot. The BMW sales figure is highly suspicious.

 

[Merc1]

I agree.

Sales by all the carmakers are counted when the car is sold to the dealer, not to a customer. That is why BMW got in trouble in 2012 when their registrations didn't match their "sales".

"The discrepancy between registrations and sales is because cars can be reported as sold when delivered to dealerships instead of only to consumers, Tom Libby, lead North American analyst for Polk, has said."

From an article on this publshed today:

http://www.autonews.com/article/20150105/RETAIL01/150109973

M

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Money in the Bank stat: Mercedes-Benz AMG high-performance models closed out 2014 with an annual volume of 11,303, jumping 44.9% from 7,802 units the previous year.

 

[PHYBENZ]

Looks like BMW pulled its usual December sales ploy, but oh well...

CLA was on a switch to the 2015s in December and was in short supply. GLA supplies are still constrained and the CLS facelift was only beginning to roll out though the CLS isn't high volume, nor a core vehicle.

The GL my dealer can't get enough of and the ML is still surging. A new GLC, GLE, and GLS next year should help MB as a new E is still a long ways away.

 

[EnI]

Oh, stop it ...

MB had a slower month compared to a previous month ... They sold less vehicles in December than in November (34,009 vs 34,578)!

All the others (BMW, Audi & Lexus) sold much more in December than in November. And that's usually a common practice (special offers?). Consequently the January sales are much lower.

I guess MB has a different sales policy.

Dec vs Nov sales:
MB: 34,009 vs 34,578 (-1.6%)
BMW: 41,526 vs 31,019 (+33.9)
Audi: 19,238 vs 16,640 (+15.6%)
Lexus: 39,879 vs 27,472 (+45.2%)
VW: 34,058 vs 31,725 (+7.4%)

Eg. in 2013 MB also sold less units in Dec than in Nov (in contrary to what other brands / manufacturers did): 33,007 vs 34,376 (-4,0%), while BMW Dec vs Nov 2013 sales were 37,389 vs 31,752 (+17.8%) .. And in 2012 it was almost the same for BMW: 37,399 vs 31,213 (+19.7%). While MB Dec vs Nov 2012 sales performance was: 28,145 vs 30,315 (-9.3%), and in Dec vs Nov 2011 case: 25,701 vs 26,796 (-4.1%).

So traditionally BMW has much better December sales performance vs November, while in MB case it's the opposite - having stronger November sales vs December.

Nothing new here. It's been going on for years ...

 

[SCOTT27]

We'll we had interesting product of a wide perspective to sell to US customers , the new 2er , X5 , X3 LCi , X4 , 4er Cabrio 4er Gran Coupe , the new M3/M4 family and of course the i3 and i8. All arriving on the market.
From the other side we had MINI that early on fell through to supply and then EPA delays they are now coming on stream with the new 5dr about to launch this month.

Next year we will see the new X6 , X5M , X6M , 6er LCI , 2er Cabrio , 3er LCI , X1 , 7er , M2 , MINI Cabrio , MINI JCW , MINI Clubman receiving their introduction and in some cases market introduction.

 

[Merc1]

M2 is the only one I really care about in there.

M

 

[EnI]

We'll we had interesting product of a wide perspective to sell to US customers , the new 2er

2er Coupe is TOTALLY uncompetitive compared to CLA & A3 sales wise. Look at the monthly sales figures:



2er: 724
A3: 2,690
CLA: 2,664

2dr coupe in this segment is a completely archaic offer & completely anti-marketing one - too niche.
4dr sedan & 4dr coupe by Audi & MB have proven to be much bigger sales success, and much more a product customers want. Fortunately BMW will soon offer a 4dr sedan in this segment as well. Acting reactively instead of proactively. Fail!

Another interesting fact: 6er (although 3 models but all with higher base price compared to the rivals) outsold A7 and CLS.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Nothing new here. It's been going on for years ...

Of course! Sales figure manipulation has been going on for years...

 

[mini_cooper4]

Oversupplying dealers in December would mean they will hurt not only January but the first quarter of next year's supply.
Even if it was just January and it was going on for years wouldn't that mean that January kills what December does for the sales and it pretty much changes nothing? That's of course if we go by that logic...
Isn't it more likely that BMW does a "give away" each year in order to achieve these numbers?
Oversupplying is not good for anyone unless you are ready to sell fast or in other words - cheap.
Here... you might say BMW are being cheap

 

[EnI]

What it matters are total annual sales figures ... Who cares one carmaker has a great December but a poor January, while the other has more constant monthly sales figures. What BMW gained in December they had lost in January already. Usually MB has much stronger Q1 sales, while BMW shines in Q4.

Pumping up December sales doesn't mean anything if there's no strong sales over the year - in average. But obviously BMW sales over the year are strong enough to pull it off.

Regarding incentives ... I'm not familiar about particular pricing policies in US. I guess everybody gives incentives. Some more constant ones over the whole year, some huge ones at the end of the year ... I guess.

Also, it's normal to push & give incentives for the cars that are hard to move (eg. cars just ahead of MY or Mk change) ... better "giving them away" than not sell them at all.

The bottom end is ... MB has lost the crown!

 

[mini_cooper4]

What it matters are total annual sales figures ... Who cares one carmaker has a great December but a poor January, while the other has more constant monthly sales figures. What BMW gained in December they lost in January already. Usually MB has much stronger Q1 sales, while BMW shines in Q4.

Pumping up December sales doesn't mean anything if there's no strong sales over the year - in average. But obviously BMW sales over the year are strong enough to pull it off.

Regarding incentives ... I'm not familiar about particular pricing policies in US. I guess everybody gives incentives. Some more constant ones over the whole year, some huge ones at the end of the year ... I guess.

Also, it's normal to push & give incentives for the cars that are hard to move (eg. cars just ahead of MY or Mk change) ... better "giving them away" than not sell them at all.

The bottom end is ... MB has lost the crown!

Damn you always copy what I say and add extensions

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

What it matters are total annual sales figures ... Who cares one carmaker has a great December but a poor January, while the other has more constant monthly sales figures. What BMW gained in December they lost in January already. Usually MB has much stronger Q1 sales, while BMW shines in Q4.

Pumping up December sales doesn't mean anything if there's no strong sales over the year - in average. But obviously BMW sales over the year are strong enough to pull it off.

Regarding incentives ... I'm not familiar about particular pricing policies in US. I guess everybody gives incentives. Some more constant ones over the whole year, some huge ones at the end of the year ... I guess.

Also, it's normal to push & give incentives for the cars that are hard to move (eg. cars just ahead of MY or Mk change) ... better "giving them away" than not sell them at all.

The bottom end is ... MB has lost the crown!

LOL. BMW better watch their back as Lexus seems hell bent on taking it again.

 

[EnI]

LOL. BMW better watch their back as Lexus seems hell bent on taking it again.

True. Lexus - especially with NX - is on a good way to be at least #2 if not #1 in US luxury vehicle market in 2015.