For decades, the Big Three German automakers—BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi—have been dominating the global luxury car market. This year marks a major milestone for each of these companies as they have achieved record sales across both Europe and North America. But what makes each of these companies unique? How do their sales stack up against one another? In this blog post, we will dive deep into 2022’s global luxury car sales numbers to see who is leading the pack and why. Read on to learn more!

BMW

If you’re looking at purchasing a luxury vehicle, you’re likely considering a BMW. Let’s take a look at how BMW’s sales compare to those of its main competitors, Mercedes and Audi.

In 2018, BMW sold 2,490,000 vehicles worldwide. This was a slight decrease from the previous year when they sold 2,520,780 vehicles. In contrast, Mercedes sold 2,339,347 vehicles in 2018, a significant decrease from their 2017 sales of 2,487,651. Audi also had a decrease in sales from 2017 to 2018, going from 1,812,462 vehicles sold to 1,664,152.

Despite this overall decrease in sales for all three companies, BMW still managed to come out on top in terms of global luxury sales. So if you’re considering a luxury vehicle purchase, BMW is still the clear leader in terms of total sales numbers.

Mercedes

In 2018, Mercedes-Benz sold 2.31 million vehicles worldwide, making it the best-selling luxury car brand. The German automaker’s sales were up 4.9% from 2017, when it sold 2.19 million vehicles.

The company’s SUV lineup was a big part of its success in 2018. Sales of the GLC, GLE, and GLS SUVs were up 19.8%, 25.6%, and 31.5%, respectively. The GLC was the best-selling Mercedes SUV with 654,733 units sold in 2018.

The C-Class was once again the best-selling Mercedes car, with 561,573 units sold in 2018 (a 4.7% increase over 2017). The E-Class wasn’t far behind, with 517,713 units sold (up 1%).

Sales of the S-Class flagship sedan were down 7% in 2018 to 48,457 units but it still managed to outsell the BMW 7 Series and Audi A8 combined.

Audi

In 2018, Audi was the third-largest luxury automaker in the world, behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Audi sold 1.9 million vehicles in 2018, up from 1.8 million in 2017. The German automaker has operations in over 100 countries and sells its vehicles in nearly every major market. China is Audi’s largest market, followed by the United States and Germany.

Audi has a broad lineup of luxury vehicles, including sedans, coupes, SUVs, and sports cars. The Audi A4 is the brand’s best-selling model, followed by the Q5 SUV and A6 sedan. Audi’s flagship model is the R8 sports car, which starts at over $200,000. The company also offers a number of high-performance models under its RS badge.

Audi has been investing heavily in electric vehicles and plans to have 12 EVs on sale by 2025. The company’s first all-electric model is the e-tron SUV, which went on sale in 2019. Audi has also announced plans for an all-electric version of the Porsche Taycan sports car that will be sold under the Audi Sport sub-brand.