Update: As Mercedes-Benz Sou
th Africa only reports aggregated sales data, the split volumes for their various individual model types, as listed here, are estimates calculated by our source
The luxury car sales game is essentially a German civil war, and it’s one that Mercedes-Benz has just started winning on the global stage, having overtaken BMW in 2016 for the first time in over 10 years.
Naamsa’s monthly figures also show that the two run a close race on local shores, but that’s normally as much as we know since Mercedes-Benz no longer reports individual sales figures for its various models from month-to-month. However, these numbers are eventually submitted retrospectively, and that brings us to the sales comparison you’ll find below, which is based on total sales for the year 2016 as supplied to us by
.
As Mercedes hasn’t listed its C-Class Coupé separately from the sedan, nor its coupé-inspired GLC and GLE from its regular crossovers, we’ve added together the figures for 3-Series/4-Series, X3/X4, X4/X6 and A4/A5 to give you a more direct comparison.
As you’ll see, the two brands run each other very close in most segments, with Audi trailing behind in almost all barring the compact hatch class, where its A3 range comes second to BMW’s 1-Series.
TOTAL SALES 2016:
Compact Hatch/Saloon
BMW 1-Series 2570 Audi A3 3dr + Sportback 1871 Mercedes-Benz CLA
1789
Audi A3 Sedan 1528 Mercedes-Benz A-Class
1468
Mercedes-Benz B-Class
1192
Volvo V40 561
Medium Saloon/Coupe
BMW 3 Series + 4 Series8372 (6680 + 1692) Mercedes C-Class (incl. Coupe)
8288
Audi A4 + A53189 (2723 + 466) Jaguar XE293 Volvo S60182 Lexus IS141 Infiniti Q5055Large Saloon
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
659
BMW 5 Series 478 Audi A6 242 Mercedes-Benz CLS
175
Jaguar XF 154 Maserati Ghibli 63 Audi A7 Sportback 61 Lexus GS 26
Grand Saloon
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
451
BMW 7 Series 441 Audi A8 43 Jaguar XJ 20 Maserati Quattroporte 20 Porsche Panamera 20 Lexus LS 2
Compact Crossover/SUV
Mercedes-Benz GLA
2203
BMW X1 2158 Audi Q3 1431 Range Rover Evoque 872 Mini Countryman 255 Volvo V40 Cross Country 209
Medium Crossover/SUV
BMW X3 + X4 2040 (1292 + 748) Mercedes-Benz GLC (incl Coupe)
1582
Land Rover Discovery Sport 1136 Audi Q5 818 Volvo XC60 512 Jaguar F-Pace 357 Lexus NX 286 Porsche Macan 217
Large Crossover/SUV
BMW X5 + X61988 (1579 + 409)Mercedes GLE/M-Class
1582
Range Rover Sport982Jeep Grand Cherokee743Mercedes-Benz GLS/GL-Class
581
Porsche Cayenne576Audi Q7547Volvo XC90 469Range Rover 223Lexus RX161Bentley Bentayga 24