Mercedes vs BMW vs Audi - 2012 Monthly And April Year-To-Date Sales

Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi are the next obvious candidates for inspection after yesterday's profile of the Japanese luxury sales battle in America, a battle Lexus repeatedly wins with ease.

Sans Sprinter, Mercedes-Benz USA is outselling BMW by 1245 units through the first four months of 2012. Audi trails BMW by 41,620 sales - at this stage last year Audi was 36,016 sales behind BMW. Their year-over-year percentage gains are all but identical, but that 16% bump equals 11,194 more sales for BMW; 5590 more for Audi. Mercedes-Benz USA, up 18% through the first four months of 2012, has found 13,805 more buyers than managed to at this point a year ago. Granted, 1331 of those extra sales have been Sprinter vans, the majority of which we can assume are commercial vehicles.

The best-selling premium German car in the United States is the best-selling premium car overall, regardless of the country or origin. BMW 3-Series sales are up 27% this year. Of the 34 nameplates sold by Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi in 2012, 21 have recorded year-over-year increases.

Twenty, maybe even ten years ago, Audi wasn't nearly so deserving of being included in a Mercedes-Benz vs. BMW headline. The A4 still doesn't sell as well as the C-Class or 3-Series. The E-Class and 5-Series crush the A6, despite the fact that U.S. A6 sales have doubled this year. The Audi Q5 does, however, mix it up with the X3 and GLK. And the admittedly much-less expensive Audi A7 is 401 sales ahead of the CLS-Class through four months. All the year-to-date numbers for 34 Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs, and Audis are visible after the jump. Together, the 33 non-Sprinter vehicles in the list account for 13% of the nameplates on sale in America and 4.6% of the American new vehicle market's volume.

Historical monthly and yearly sales figures for each and every model on sale in North America can be accessed through the first dropdown menu at GoodCarBadCar's Sales Stats home. Each and every manufacturer was ranked by April 2012 volume earlier in the month, just as they will be ranked by May volume on Friday, June 1. The 3-Series was the 43rd-best-selling vehicle in America in the first one-third of 2012, as you'll see when you scan this forever long list of 255 automobiles. Click the above chart for a larger view.

Ranking	Automaker	April 2012 YTD	April 2011 YTD	% Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz	88,951	75,146	+ 18.4%
#2	BMW	82,611	71,417	+ 15.7%
#3	Lexus	66,647	64,932	+ 2.6%
#4	Acura	42,980	42,972	+ 0.02%
#5	Audi	40,991	35,401	+ 15.8%
#6	Cadillac	40,817	53,639	- 23.9%
#7	Infiniti	33,349	34,597	- 3.6%
#8	Lincoln	27,144	27,243	- 0.4%
#9	Volvo	21,265	21,844	- 2.7%
#10	Land Rover	13,951	11,249	+ 24.0%
#11	Porsche	10,596	10,179	+ 4.1%
#12	Jaguar	4401	3750	+ 17.4%
#11	Maserati	834	702	+ 18.8%
#11	Bentley	653	439	+ 48.7%

Ranking	Vehicle	April 2012 YTD	April 2011 YTD	% Change
#1	BMW 3-Series	33,701	26,590	+ 26.7%
#2	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	24,531	20,425	+ 20.1%
#3	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	19,201	20,411	- 5.9%
#4	BMW 5-Series	16,275	16,721	- 2.7%
#5	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	14,537	9190	+ 58.2%
#6	BMW X5	12,236	10,054	+ 21.7%
#7	Audi A4	11,794	12,009	- 1.8%
#8	BMW X3	9132	7987	+ 14.3%
#9	Audi Q5	8432	7183	+ 17.4%
#10	Mercedes-Benz GLK	8095	7368	+ 9.9%
#11	Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	7922	6566	+ 20.7%
#12	Audi A6	5146	2573	+ 100%
#13	Audi A5	5131	5021	+ 2.2%
#14	Mercedes-Benz Sprinter	5095	3764	+ 35.4%
#15	BMW 7-Series	3896	3522	+ 10.6%
#16	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	3507	3521	- 0.4%
#17	Audi Q7	2842	3027	- 6.1%
#18	BMW 1-Series	2835	3580	- 20.8%
#19	Audi A7	2805	408	+ 588%
#20	Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class	2404	552	+ 336%
#21	Audi A3	2329	2277	+ 2.3%
#22	BMW 6-Series	2210	521	+ 324%
#23	Mercedes-Benz SLK	1558	689	+ 126%
#24	BMW X6	1438	1559	- 7.8%
#25	Audi A8	1423	1873	- 24.0%
#26	BMW Z4	888	883	+ 0.6%
#27	Audi TT	754	637	+ 18.4%
#28	Mercedes-Benz R-Class	568	870	- 34.7%
#29	Mercedes-Benz SL-Class	520	714	- 27.2%
#30	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG	390	309	+ 26.2%
#31	Mercedes-Benz G-Class	343	378	- 9.3%
#32	Audi R8	335	393	- 14.8%
#33	Mercedes-Benz CL-Class	273	387	- 29.5%
#34	Mercedes-Benz B-Class	7	2	+ 250%

Source: Manufacturers

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - April 2012
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - 2011 Year End
Luxury Auto Brand Market Share In America - April 2012
Lexus vs. Acura vs. Infiniti: 2012 Monthly & Year-To-Date Sales