BMW Werkz banner

BMW tops Mercedes in Germany

2K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  Stacy540i 
#1 ·
Global Auto Report

By Detroit News staff reports, Bloomberg News and wire services

FRANKFURT -- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the No. 2 luxury carmaker, last month replaced DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes with the best-selling models in two segments of Germany's car market.

BMW's 3-Series replaced the Mercedes C-Class among midsize cars, the KBA, the government agency which registers cars, said in a faxed statement.

Car sales in Germany, Europe's largest market, have declined 1.1 percent so far this year, the fourth year in a row of falling sales. Carmakers have increased low-interest loans and offers of free equipment to lure customers.

"Gaining market share in a falling market matters," said Christoph Stuermer, an analyst at Global Insight, an automotive consultancy. "You have to push other people out to be successful. It's worth a lot of money."

Among sport-utility vehicles, the Mercedes M-Class, built in Tuscaloosa Alabama, overtook Toyota Motor Co.p.'s RAV 4, with 11.7 percent of the segment.

All other segments retained their leaders from the previous month. The Mercedes E-Class dominated the upper-middle class with 39 percent of the segment. Mercedes also led the upper class with S-Class model.

BMW names new managers to 3 brands

MUNICH
-- BMW AG, moving to strengthen marketing efforts, named new managers to each of its three brands -- BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce, effective Jan. 1, 2004.

Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes will take over responsibility for the BMW brand, Kay Segler for the MINI brand and Howard Mosher for the Rolls-Royce brand, the German automaker said. They will report to Michael Ganal, member of the board of management of BMW AG responsible for sales and marketing.
 
See less See more
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top