In the global automotive market, Audi has announced that the company delivered more cars than BMW in the first two months of 2014, claiming the title of the world’s best-selling luxury-auto nameplate.
According to a data from the German automaker, Audi sold 242,400 vehicles through February 2014, 383 more than the BMW brand. At the same time last year, Audi trailed BMW by 429 units.
Audi’s 242,400 deliveries accounted for a 9.3% increase worldwide, while BMW’s 242,017 sales were up 8.9% worldwide compared to the same period last year. Audi’s sales were boosted in February by a 43% increase in demand for the A3 compact and a surprising 32% jump in deliveries of the Q7 SUV.
Moving forward, Audi will introduce 17 new or revamped models in 2014, including the new TT sports car, in an effort to maintain this lead. The launches are part of a plan to invest 22 billion euros over five years to become No. 1 in annual luxury-car sales for the first time.
At the same time, BMW hopes to retain the No. 1 spot at the end of this year thanks to the introduction of new models including the 2-Series Active Tourer and 4-Series Gran Coupe. These models will likely help BMW to retain the lead in global luxury-car sales for a 10th straight year in 2014. IHS Automotive estimates that BMW will sell 1.77 million cars this year beating Audi’s 1.66 million and Mercedes’s 1.56 million deliveries.
Both Audi and Mercedes-Benz plan to overtake BMW by the end of the decade.
