Merc beats BMW as best-selling brand here

[specuvestor]

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/09/12/m...luxury-ca/

"Daimler's management has admitted that the company has lagged behind its rivals -- such as Volkswagen , the maker of Audi -- who have been aggressively expanding in China. In a previous article, I highlighted Volkswagen's impressive performance in China. In the first half of the year, Audi reported a remarkable 18% increase in Chinese sales, while Mercedes Benz's sales remained flat"

[gautam]

personally i drive a benz. ride quality is superior to jap of similar cc. i like the three pointed star which sticks out in front of the bonnet. jag also has a 3D emblem in front, i think its still not as popular as benz. the other v noticeable 3D emblem is rolls royce but thats a totally diff class altogether.
my children tells me that it feels like 60km/hr when i am doing 90km/hr on the expressways, whereas when they sit on my dad's toyota, they tell me its feels very fast.

[kagemusha]

I personally think the Jag is a steal at the promo price of $190k in the current market situation.
Plus the XF looks damn nice, go diesel too.
Triple bonus.

[pianist]

I personally think the Jag is a steal at the promo price of $190k in the current market situation.
Plus the XF looks damn nice, go diesel too.
Triple bonus.

agree..did u go see 8riversuites at boon keng? they are giving 1 free jaguar (inclusive of coe) if u were to buy a penthouse unit there.

[kagemusha]

lol, better to just buy the car than the house in the current market situ.

[specuvestor]

Just thought to update this thread that I recalled with this news:

March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Audi AG delivered more cars than Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s namesake brand through the first two months of 2014 to claim the title of the world’s best- selling luxury-auto nameplate.
Audi sold 242,400 vehicles through February, 383 more than the BMW brand, according to data from the German automakers. At the same time last year, Audi trailed BMW, which has held the top spot in the segment for nine straight years, by 429 autos.
The Volkswagen AG unit will introduce 17 new or revamped models in 2014, including the TT sports car, in an effort to hold the lead. The rollouts are part of a plan to invest 22 billion euros ($30.4 billion) over five years to become No. 1 in annual luxury-car sales for the first time.
“We will increase deliveries in all regions of the world, including Europe,” Chief Executive Officer Rupert Stadler said in a speech to be delivered today at the brand’s headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany.
Audi’s lead at this point in 2014 reflects the tightening race among the world’s top three makers of luxury vehicles as they all vie for the No. 1 spot in the segment. Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz narrowed the gap to Audi through February by almost one-third to 26,647 cars and sport-utility vehicles.
Audi’s sales were lifted in February by a 43 percent jump in demand for the A3 compact and 32 percent growth in deliveries of the Q7 sport-utility vehicle. Worldwide, the VW marque sold
9.3 percent more cars in the first two months of the year, compared with BMW’s 8.9 percent gain. BMW is expecting to make up ground on its closest rival in the coming months.

BMW Response

“The innovative new models coming out this year, such as the 2-Series Active Tourer and 4-Series Gran Coupe, will give us the momentum to keep growing in 2014,” Ian Robertson, BMW’s sales chief, said today in a statement.
Those models will likely help BMW retain the lead in global luxury-car sales for a 10th straight year in 2014. IHS Automotive estimates that BMW will sell 1.77 million cars, beating Audi’s 1.66 million and Mercedes’s 1.56 million.
Audi and Mercedes have both vowed to overtake the Munich- based manufacturer by the end of the decade. Stuttgart-based Mercedes was last to beat BMW in annual sales, while Audi has never held the lead for a full year.
Spending to develop new products and expand production capacity caused Audi’s 2013 operating profit to fall 6.2 percent to 5.03 billion euros, even as revenue rose 2.3 percent.