The first half of 2014 has proved very fruitful for the German brands on a global basis, with BMW being the leader of the pack with over a million sales, followed by Audi with 869350 units delivered, while Mercedes-Benz came in third with 783520 cars.

BMW sales breakdown in 2014: January to June

BMW delivered a total of 1 020 211 vehicles to customers worldwide, including MINI and Rolls Royce vehicles, an increase of 6.9% over the same period in 2013 (954 501). Sales in June also reached an all-time high: deliveries increased 4.8% with a total of 193 342 vehicles sold last month (prev. yr. 184 489).

“This is the first time we’ve sold more than a million cars in the first half of the year and underscores the strength of our premium brands within the BMW Group,” said Ian Robertson, member of the BMW board of management for sales and marketing. He said sales should continue to grow in the second half of the year, when new vehicles like the BMW X4 and BMW 2 Series Active Tourer come onto the market.

Global BMW brand vehicle sales in June climbed 7.3% to 164 214 units. Since the start of 2014, 886 347 BMWs have been delivered to customers worldwide – an increase of 10.2% over the 2013 figure of 804 227.

Sales of the BMW 2 Series reached 11 067 by July 2014.BMW-owned Rolls-Royce reported a steep increase in sales globally. Since January 2014, the automaker sold 1968 units.3 Series: 233 438 cars delivered (216 593 in 2013), 7.8% increase4 Series – available since September 2013 – reached 47 031 in the year-to-date.5 Series rose 7.6% in the same period (193 560 /2013: 179 863).7 Series sales increased 6.4% in June with a total of 5358 deliveries (5035 in 2013)X1 sales remained steady in the first half of 2014 with 79 344 units deliveredX3 demand continued to grow in June with a total of 82 830 customer deliveries (2013: 77 950 / +6.3%).X5 was a significant growth driver in June with 13 097 deliveries (2013: 9661 / + 35.6%)X6 saw an increase of 18.4% (3341 / 2822 in 2013)1241 i3s were delivered to customers, bringing the year-to-date sales for the electric vehicle up to 5396.

Audi 2014 record sales

With year-on-year sales growth of 11.4%, Audi achieved the best first half year in its company history. In June alone, the company delivered around 155 450 cars worldwide, exceeding the figure in the same period last year by 10.8 percent.

Audi says strong sales in China, Spain and the US contributed to its first-half growth. Global sales of the A3 increased 49%, while the Q3 and Q7 SUVs rose 37% and 21% respectively.

In China, though, Audi is still struggling. Compared to BMW, its sales are slower but the company did manage to sell more than 50 000 units in a month for the first time since they started selling their cars there.

Mercedes-Benz 2014 record sales

Sitting at number three, Mercedes-Benz follows with an impressive record of 783520 cars sold in the first half of the year. The company says this record counts as the best unit sales result in any half year in its history to date. In the month of June the company delivered 142 136 passenger cars (+8.0%).

In China, the Stuttgart-based manufacturer continued on its strong course and has pushed sales up to 135 972 units since the beginning of the year (+37.5%).

In South Africa, the brand’s unit sales have risen by 10.3% to 11 388 units since the beginning of the year. In June the brand posted an increase of 30.1% in June (3430 units). The C-Class accounted for most of the sales, with 1421 units sold.

The newly SA launched 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class‘represents a bold departure from its predecessor.’ It features a long hood and shorter overhangs along with a narrower glasshouse and more flowing lines. It is optionally available with the company’s 4MATIC all-wheel drive setup and a number of safety systems such as Active Parking Assist, Adaptive Highbeam Assist Plus and Traffic Sign Assist with Wrong-Way Alert. For detailed pricing and specifications of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class, click here.