Mercedes and BMW are like Coca Cola and Pepsi, when you talk about competition in automotive business, nobody ignores the Mercedes and BMW competition for long years. Nearly their whole model range is a substitute for other brand. And Mercedes was always the winner for selling more cars than BMW, thanks to Mercedes S Class and E Class, sales are always ahead.
Fifteen years ago another German brand became serious competitor, Audi! Audi’s model range is also very similar to Mercedes and BMW but it never had the clear brand image on society. Mercedes is luxury and comfort, BMW is luxury and sport. What about Audi? Luxury and be different ?! Probably, because it cannot offer the same sportive character of BMW and also it cannot offer the same sophisticated comfort features like Mercedes. It was stuck in the middle but that was not a good position. People who got bored of Mercedes and BMW had the chance to taste something different, Audi!
As the years passed, Audi increased it quality and became a more serious competitor. Also its price was relatively cheaper than its competitors. It was not a bad decision to buy one and also it was offering Quattro, four wheel drive technology. This stability on Audi was reflected on sales figure also. And for the first quarter of 2010, Audi sold more cars than Mercedes! Yes, more cars than the definition of luxury car on earth. This is a serious success for Audi and a big question mark for Mercedes. It is very clear that Mercedes is not alone, unless they don’t do anything Audi might be the new king.
Mercedes sold, 248 500 cars and Audi sold, 264 100 cars. Not a very big difference but an important signal!
Pictures are taken from;
BMW, Mercedes, Pepsi and Coca Cola Websites