Audi falls behind fellow German luxury rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz

MUNICH: In a three-way battle between Germany's luxury carmakers, Audi has fallen behind compared to rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW, according to recently released annual sales figures from the companies.

All three companies have lost ground in the once-lucrative Chinese market, where German carmakers have increasingly faced stiff competition from rising Chinese rivals, and seen sales in Germany suffer amid an economic slowdown.

But Audi, a subsidiary of German auto giant Volkswagen, has fared worse than BMW and Mercedes-Benz in other key markets such as the United States, leading to a growing gap in the long-running rivalry.

BMW is currently ahead in terms of deliveries, according to 2024 sales figures released by the Munich-based carmaker on Monday.

Overall sales at BMW, including at the carmaker's British subsidiaries MINI and Rolls-Royce, hit 2.45 million cars in 2024, down about 4% compared to the previous year.

BMW-branded cars accounted for 2.2 million of the cars sold, a drop of 2.3% compared to 2023.

MINI performed significantly worse with 245,000 cars and a decline of 17%, while high-end British luxury brand Rolls-Royce sold 5,712 cars, a drop of 5.3%.

In addition to weak sales in China, BMW suffered from delivery suspensions in the second half of the year due to problems with a brake system.

Mercedes-Benz, which reported results on Friday, delivered 2.39 million vehicles in 2024 across all of its brands, a 4% decline.

Excluding vans and commercial vehicles, Mercedes-Benz Cars sold 1.98 million cars in 2024, down 3%.

Those figures also includes roughly 6,000 cars from the Smart brand. The company does not disclose sales at the marquee Mercedes-Benz brand.

However, the Stuttgart-based Mercdes-Benz said the company managed to increase sales of its more expensive - and often particularly profitable - models.

Audi is now some way behind its German luxury rivals. The core brand reported deliveries fell by 12% to 1.67 million in 2024.

Porsche, another Volkswagen subsidiary, saw sales drop by 3% to 310,700 vehicles.

The Ingolstadt-based Audi has described 2024 as a transition year, with executives pinning hopes on new models to boost sales volume in 2025.