• BMW's big December helps push past Mercedes to give BMW the number one US luxury automaker title for 2012 - German Toyota?

                    
      		   
      Published on 01-04-2013 08:50 AM
      7 Comments Comments
      Congratulations to BMW who now for the second straight year takes the luxury sales crown in the United States. Mercedes held a lead of 1,849 cars through November but BMW with a big December was able to make up the gap and pass Mercedes. A very big December as BMW finished the year up 12% on 2011 with 281,460 vehicles sold in the USA ahead of Mercedes-Benz by 7,326 units.


      BMWNA CEO Ludwig Willisch showed a little swagger, “We like to be No. 1 and we are No. 1 in the world. Being No. 1 means success.” He's right, being number one in sales means you are a successful business. It does not mean you build the best car necessarily though and with Audi coming on strong and BMW losing comparison tests routinely as of late perhaps BMW should focus more on driving dynamics rather than sales figures.

      Then again, as long as you are making big money and selling cars, who cares about the Ultimate Driving Machine?

      For those unfamiliar, Lexus was the king of luxury auto market sales in the USA before BMW for 11 years yet their cars were not considered better than BMW's. New era now. Say hello to BMW, the German Toyota.

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      This article was originally published in forum thread: BMW's big December helps push past Mercedes to give BMW the number one US luxury automaker title for 2012 - German Toyota? started by Sticky View original post
      Comments 7 Comments
      1. whoosh's Avatar
        whoosh - 01-04-2013, 09:17 AM
        Just wait until the FWD cars hit the lots! Click here to enlarge
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky - 01-04-2013, 09:19 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by whoosh Click here to enlarge
        Just wait until the FWD cars hit the lots! Click here to enlarge
        I'm sure sales will go up, good for BMW I guess.
      1. Bimman's Avatar
        Bimman - 01-04-2013, 09:48 AM
        congrats to BMW
      1. whoosh's Avatar
        whoosh - 01-04-2013, 10:03 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by Sticky Click here to enlarge
        I'm sure sales will go up, good for BMW I guess.
        Yes, exactly. The German Yaris will be very popular amongst the appliance drivers. Let's just hope the M3/4 is able to maintain some status and level of performance to keep interest in the brand.
      1. bobS's Avatar
        bobS - 01-04-2013, 11:12 AM
        If BMW can maintain a balance of making lots of money and being number one in sales, while still producing high performance cars.....it's a win win. I guess we will see, but so far, even though they've lost a couple comparison tests, I still think they are accomplishing the goal of selling a lot of vehicles and maintaining that BMW performance/quality that traditional buyers expect.
      1. Q4P's Avatar
        Q4P - 01-04-2013, 01:34 PM
        I honestly think the M3/M4 is the last car that can save the heritage / meaning of the brand.

        It would be real funny if Lexus and Bmw traded places in driving dynamics.
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky - 01-04-2013, 01:37 PM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by Q4P Click here to enlarge
        It would be real funny if Lexus and Bmw traded places in driving dynamics.
        It would be but the Japanese tend to imitate in this market rather than innovate.