BMW U.S. CEO overturns predecessor’s assertion and continues to shake off Mercedes-Benz

According to Bloomberg News, BMW's new US CEO Ludwig Willisch asserted that BMW will maintain the title of US luxury car sales championship until 2012, refuting its predecessor Jim O'Donnell’s prediction that Mercedes sales will temporarily surpass BMW's sales at the beginning of next year.

On October 19, Ludwig Willisch said in an interview that BMW's first position in the US luxury car market will run through the rest of 2011 and remain until 2012; currently BMW's product lineup is expanding, which is conducive to maintaining luxury cars. The status of sales champion. Previously, Jim O'Donnell, the US CEO of BMW, once predicted in August that the modified Mercedes-Benz C-Class compact car had landed in the US market earlier than the new BMW 3 Series. In the first quarter of 2012, Mercedes-Benz US sales exceeded BMW. Ludwig Willisch, who took over from Jim O'Donnell in charge of BMW America on October 1, disagreed. He stated: "We will not hand over the market to another brand."

This year, BMW’s sales growth in the US market is booming. Toyota’s Toyota Lexus, which previously led the US luxury car market, has lost sales due to earthquakes and other factors, and has given up the leading position in luxury cars. In September this year, BMW's sales increased by 19% to 21,750 units compared to the same period of last year; Mercedes-Benz increased by 9% to 21,649 units; and Lexus fell 12% to 14,995 units. This means that BMW has been leading the US luxury car market for six consecutive months. According to the cumulative sales in the first 9 months, BMW had a 13% year-on-year increase to 177,679 units. Mercedes-Benz's growth was 6.5% to 170,058 units, and Lexus's sales were down 16% year-on-year to 135,647 units.

At present, BMW and Mercedes-Benz form competitive relationships in major regional markets around the world. Although BMW began to outsell Mercedes-Benz in 2005 and is the leading German luxury car brand, Daimler set a goal for Mercedes to become the world’s largest luxury car manufacturer by 2020.