Autoblog

Report: Mercedes overtakes Lexus as leading luxury automaker in U.S.

Zach Bowman — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:31:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Mercedes-Benz, Earnings/Financials, Luxury

Make way for the new king. Mercedes-Benz has made up serious ground in the American luxury market, beating out both BMW and long-reigning Lexus in sales last month. The Silver Arrow saw deliveries climb by 17 percent in the US, up to 19,862 units in September. What's more, Ernst Lieb, the company's chief executive officer, said that he expects the Mercedes-Benz market share to continue to grow throughout the remainder of 2010.

That news comes as BMW announced its sales had grown by 21 percent compared to this time last year. Lexus, meanwhile isn't fairing so well. The Japanese luxury marque saw its sales fall off by a hefty six percent to 16,948 units, even in light of booming ES sales. The company delivered 21 percent more of its front-wheel-drive sedan in September, but those gains were demolished by the fact that sales of the company's IS line dropped off by 27 percent.

It would seem that buyers are still somewhat skittish of Lexus products after a torrent of recalls earlier this year. Even so, Brian Smith, the U.S. vice-president of Lexus sales, says that he doesn't believe his company will lose its position as the number one luxury automaker in the States when all of 2010 is counted.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Report: Mercedes overtakes Lexus as leading luxury automaker in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Audi outsells Mercedes-Benz globally for first time in Q1 2010

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:57:00 EST

Filed under: China, Audi, Mercedes-Benz

For the first time ever, Audi has managed to outsell Mercedes-Benz in global sales for the first quarter of 2010. Some of the European press are treating it like the fourth horseman of the apocalypse, but before we break out our Mayan calendars and go all 2012 on you, here are the hard numbers: Audi sold 264,100 vehicles worldwide between January and March while Mercedes sold 248,500 units over the same time period. For what it's worth, BMW has yet to release its final first-quarter sales figures.

Audi has repeatedly signaled its desire and intent to become the world's leading luxury car brand by 2015, which would mean passing both of its German rivals, the aforementioned Mercedes-Benz and BMW, along with Japanese automaker Lexus. Plus, Audi offers a pretty compelling lineup of vehicles with which to do battle with those formidable competitors.

According to Autocar, the biggest single contributor to Audi's passing of Mercedes-Benz is the Chinese market, where Audi sells twice as many vehicles per year as Mercedes-Benz. In fact, one out of every five Audis built is sold in China. Considering how rapidly the Chinese market is expanding, Audi is certainly finding itself in an enviable position. Time will tell if it's able to maintain that growth in the face of constant pressure from its German and Japanese rivals.

[Source: Autocar]

Report: Audi outsells Mercedes-Benz globally for first time in Q1 2010 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Coup de Gr�ce: Citroen poaches Mercedes sales chief

Noah Joseph — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:33:00 EST

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Mercedes-Benz, PSA, Citroën

French automaker PSA/Peugeot-Citroen is serious about breathing new air into its chevron-badged division. After partnering with Polyphony's Gran Turismo racing simulator franchise for the GTbyCitroen concept and announcing the revival of the DS nameplate with an upcoming show car at the Geneva Motor Show, the Franco auto group has managed to poach Mercedes-Benz sales chief Jean-Marc Gales to be Citroen's new chief executive.

Born in Luxembourg, 46-year-old Gales held a variety of positions at Volkswagen, BMW and Opel before moving to Mercedes-Benz. In his new job, he'll be replacing Gilles Michel, who departed Citroen - now celebrating its 90th anniversary - for a government position last December. Gales will join PSA's five-member top executive committee in a couple of months from now.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - subs. req'd]

Coup de Gr�ce: Citroen poaches Mercedes sales chief originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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