BMW clinches luxury sales crown

BMW has overtaken Mercedes-Benz to clinch the top spot for luxury-car sales worldwide for the first time since 2015. 
Deliveries of BMW cars increased 9.1 per cent to a record 2.21 million in 2021, which the company attributed in part to its response to supply chain shortages. 

Mercedes-Benz achieved 2.05m sales during the same period, a drop of five per cent from the previous year, as the Daimler-owned brand fared worse than its rival amid the lack of semiconductors globally. 

Pieter Nota, responsible for BMW sales, says the marque wants to continue its profitable growth in 2022 and will expand its range of fully electric vehicles (EVs).

Deliveries of EVs were a bright spot for both companies as they rolled out new battery-powered models and sought to comply with tightening emissions regulations in a number of jurisdictions. 

At BMW, sales of plug-in hybrid and fully electric cars increased 70 per cent to 328,316 cars, while Mercedes-Benz enjoyed a 69 per cent increase. 

BMW more than doubled sales of full EVs last year and hopes to repeat that feat in 2022, Nota said.