BMW overtook Mercedes-Benz to lead H1 2021 global sales, because Daimler allowed it

The BMW Group has a habit of timing the bragging of its sales achievement one day after Mercedes-Benz has announced theirs. The pride of Munich likes to play “Show me yours and I will you show you mine, but after you.”

So one day after Mercedes-Benz Cars announced that they have delivered 1,182,724 cars in the first half of 2021 (up 25.1 percent from last year), the BMW Group said they have delivered 1,339,080 cars, up 39.1 percent from last year. The numbers for BMW Group are inclusive of MINI and Rolls-Royce but not BMW Motorrad bikes.

That’s a huge 156,356 cars lead over Mercedes-Benz. However if you remove MINI (157,799 cars) and Rolls-Royce (2,989 cars) from the total, then the namesake BMW-badged cars totalled up to just 1,178,292 cars, or 4,432 cars behind from Mercedes-Benz’s tally.

But wait, hang on. Mercedes-Benz's numbers include 20,253 units of Smart.

Both BMW and Mercedes-Benz add that their figures would’ve been a lot higher if not for loss of production due to shortage of semiconductor parts.

The numbers also mean that Mercedes-Benz’s global sales have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, overtaking H1 2019’s 1,134,729 cars, while BMW is almost there (1,252,837 cars in H1 2019).

So which brand is leading the luxury car market? Limited to just their respective namesake brands, the clear answer would be BMW, with 1,178,292 cars, versus Mercedes-Benz's 1,162,471 cars.

Should MINI be included in comparisons with Mercedes-Benz (or even Smart)? That’s a bit hard to answer.

In terms of brand image and target customers, MINI is quite different from Mercedes-Benz. But in terms of price points, there is little separating the two brands. A MINI Cooper S 3-Door starts from RM 253,318 while a comparable Mercedes-Benz A250 starts from RM 253,594.

In any case, Smart is a dormant brand, and is on its way out of Europe. It will be reborn in China under as an Daimler's Smart to build new SUV with Geely’s SEA platform. 

Similarly for Rolls-Royce. Is the Mercedes-Maybach a genuine contender to a Rolls-Royce? A Maybach is just an upgraded S-Class right? But then again, remind us what's the donor car for the Rolls-Royce Ghost’s mechanicals and vehicle architecture again? That’s right, a BMW 7 Series. Anyway, Rolls-Royce’s numbers don’t matter much here.

There’s no right or wrong answer, and public relations teams in both German companies will want to convince the public that their rationale is the right one. BMW insists that it is the world's leading premium mobility company (because it makes premium bikes too), while Mercedes-Benz insists that it is world's leading luxury automotive brand.

In the coming years, Mercedes-Benz will compete less with BMW Group for the sales volume crown. Last year, Daimler CEO Ola Källenius told the company's shareholders Mercedes-Benz's future is electric, and that the path to ensuring its sustainability as the leading luxury car brand lies in higher profit bigger cars.

In fact, Källenius has gone on record to say he will be eliminating unprofitable models, and will exit segments that don't meet the company's profitability targets - implying that sales volume will be reduced further.

“We will adjust the portfolio towards the highest pockets of profitability,” Mr Källenius said, adding that Mercedes was “not going to chase volume” in lower-margin compact segments and that “we are prepared to eliminate models that we don’t think meet the profitability targets”.

Since then, reports have emerged that the highly profitable G-Class range will be spun off as a sub-brand, and will be Mercedes-Benz G-Class to get its own sub-brand; baby G-Wagen plausible as a seperate business unit.