Global sales through August 2012: Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz

[Hofmeister]

I think BMW may just retain the sales lead in 2013, with the 1 er GT, 4er, and X5. 2014 onwards though I think will be a straight, very, very close fight between BMW and Audi.

 

[Tumbo]

I think BMW may just retain the sales lead in 2013..

I'm not sure about that. I really think the A3 sales will be a huge success. Especially with A3 Sportback and also S3 in there. I expect only that to be a huge plus for Audi.

 

[Hofmeister]

I'm not sure about that. I really think the A3 sales will be a huge success. Especially with A3 Sportback and also S3 in there. I expect only that to be a huge plus for Audi.

Well in 470 days we'll know The 1er GT will also be a massive boost to BMW sales, but I definitely would'nt be surprised if Audi took the lead.

 

[K-A]

Whatever it is, the new 3's sales are severely slacking for a 3-Series. Not even for a first year model, forget that (I assumed it would have sold double the units by now as a new body 3-Series in such a strong car market wouldn't really ask for anything else), but even worse than the last year E90.

I guess we'll find out soon enough if these are all "excuses" regarding supply and AWD (AWD obviously is a big playing factor, but HOW big? We'll find out) are true if the F30's stales finally take off (in the U.S) and can not only catch up to the E90.... but largely surpass it.

 

[Zafiro]

In Sweden the best selling BMW is the 5-series but the new 3-series starting to pop up everywhere. My dealer think the new 3-series is passing the 5-series soon.

 

[EnI]

Whatever it is, the new 3's sales are severely slacking for a 3-Series. Not even for a first year model, forget that (I assumed it would have sold double the units by now as a new body 3-Series in such a strong car market wouldn't really ask for anything else), but even worse than the last year E90.

Not true. F30 sales are up, although just slightly.

So far this year, total U.S. sales of the 3 Series line, including old versions of the coupe, convertible and wagon models, slipped 1.1 percent to 60,621 while deliveries of the new sedan rose 3.8 percent to 43,053, according to Autodata.

​

And that without AWD models available - the models that represent 50% of ALL 3er sedan US sales, in North East even 80%.​

I guess customer preferences have changed since E90 introduction. AWD 3er sedans being much popular than in the times E90 was launched.​

But still ... IMO the introduction of pre-customized lines to US market have definitely hurt 3er sales. Since customizing is limited, and when wanting to fully customized your car beyond the lines, the price tag skyrockets.

 

[Zafiro]

If it wasnt for 1-series and X1, sales would defintely be better for F30.

 

[Levi68]

Maybe problem of the F30 is no LED and E-Brake?

 

[Poverty]

Both BMW and Audi have far more 'cheaper' and 'smaller' vehicles. MB will close the gap with the new generation of small vehicles.

I hope not, I want to move away from audi and wont touch BMW as they have no exclusivety. Every man and their dog has one. Mercedes however, they just ooze class and premium, yes the price reflects that, but Im happy to pay a bit extra if it gives me that special feeling of not being run of the mill.

People shouldnt care about sales numbers so much

 

[DblPen]

I hope not, I want to move away from audi and wont touch BMW as they have no exclusivety. Every man and their dog has one. Mercedes however, they just ooze class and premium, yes the price reflects that, but Im happy to pay a bit extra if it gives me that special feeling of not being run of the mill.

People shouldnt care about sales numbers so much

you should get jaguar or something then

 

[Poverty]

Jags are for old men dude!

 

[DblPen]

if jaguars are, then mercs are too

 

[Poverty]

trust me, atleast in the UK, jags are primarily driven by old men, politicians, mayors, and undertakers on the way to a burial

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

if jaguars are, then mercs are too

And perceptions like this is exactly why the A-class looks as radical as it does.

 

[Levi68]

trust me, atleast in the UK, jags are primarily driven by old men, politicians, mayors, and undertakers on the way to a burial

Well, but that is maybe only the case in UK. Not here in germany.

 

[GTA45E]

Reliability wise. Audi usually ranks behind BMW and far behind Mercedes.


M

Yep.. quick preview of the 2012 Automotive nameplate rating in the US by JDpower.
Audi is actually ahead of BMW right now.

 

[EnI]

Does this study pounds the problems accordingly to their seriousness & severeness, or it counts them equally?

As said many times: you can't compare (and count it equally) serious engine, transmission, chassis problems to eg rattling levers or lose buttons inside the cabin. And some software bugs in infotainment systems can't be equal to eg. ECU software bugs, or even mechanic issues etc.

Does this study just quantify all problems (it doesn't matter how serious & sever are), or does it rank (and pound) the problems qualitatively as well? If it doesn't then the study is useless - due to argument stated in the second paragraph of this post.

 

[Poverty]

BMW should be bottom for the fact that they f#88ed up the security systems on their cars. Smash the drivers glass, the alarm doesnt go off, and then steal the car via the obd. Way to go BMW lol

 

[Hofmeister]

I hope not, I want to move away from audi and wont touch BMW as they have no exclusivety. Every man and their dog has one. Mercedes however, they just ooze class and premium, yes the price reflects that, but Im happy to pay a bit extra if it gives me that special feeling of not being run of the mill.

People shouldnt care about sales numbers so much

Sorry but that comment was a case in contradiction, first you say you prefer MB for their extra "exclusivity" compared to BMW/Audi, then go on to say how people shouldn't care about sales figures so much? And if we're deciding who's the most reliable, maybe we should take a look at this
http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/what-car-reliability-survey-2012/263555

 

[K-A]

Wow, BMW's quality is pathetic right now, look at them plummet in those charts. Go to the Bimmer boards and all kinds of issues are arising which shouldn't. It doesn't matter how how technically big or small, if it's a problem, it ruins your experience with the car. For example, my W212 has too many on and off rattles, it's effectively all but ruined my relationship with the car. People reported improper door sealing on the F10 which resulted in wind noise on some random models.... that is enough to completely ruin an experience with a car, especially when paying "Luxury Car Dollars". People have reported numerous cases of complete operational failure whilst driving their 5ers, and also things as small as buttons peeling on some owners cars show lack of effective R&D by BMW.

Everything counts, when it comes to quality! At least if it's an engine issue, you take it in and it gets fixed. Little things are sometimes the most painful, because you get the runaround at the dealer, the "it's normal" crap, not to mention the fact that it's hard to decipher and explain some of these nuanced issues that only a prime-driver of a specific car will experience. I dealt with some of those on my W211 and it drove me nuts. Also, if a manufacturer is improperly engineering simple things like switches or sealings, or buttons, or panels which rattle, etc. then it simply says a lot of (bad) about their capabilities and/or care and/or execution.