BMW Overtakes Mercedes-Benz as Top-Selling Luxury Brand in U.S.

BMW AG has sealed its position as the most successful luxury brand in the U.S. in 2011 by outselling Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz last month.

The Munich-based German automobile company sold a total of 247,907 cars and sports utility vehicles in 2011 as opposed to 245,231 vehicles by Mercedes. Although, there has been an increase in sales by 13 percent for both the brands as compared to the previous year, BMW's U.S. sales rose to 27,000 in December, facilitating its victory in the sales race.

The surge in sales for both BMW and Mercedes has ended the 11-year winning streak enjoyed by Lexus, the luxury division for Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation. The fall in sales for Lexus was mainly due to lack of production following the March 2011 T?hoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

This severe disruption in the production lines hindered the marque's near-term sales prospects which secured the third position in the 2011 sales record. As per the reports released by the luxury brand, sales fell by 13 percent to 198,552 in 2011.

It has been reported that neither Mercedes nor BMW reported their U.S. sales record, each waiting for the other to announce first.

I have great confidence that 2012 will be even better especially with the all-new BMW 3 Series arriving in the U.S. in February with more new and refreshed models coming in the months after, stated Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America.

Securing the fourth and fifth position are General Motor's Buick and Cadillac luxury brands reporting sales of 177,633 and 152,389, respectively. This was closely followed by Honda Acura and Volkswagen AG's Audi brands.