Why BMW makes the “loser” gesture towards Audi and Mercedes

If you see a BMW driving with a blue L plate, then it is not a training car, but rather it is making a “loser” gesture towards an Audi or Mercedes. And therefore …

BMW sold significantly more electric cars in the last quarter. As a result, the group’s sales rose by more than 3 percent to 38.5 billion euros.

The BMW Group is growing quickly

The group sold a total of 621,699 cars in July, August and September. That is 6 percent more than in the same period last year. The share of electric vehicles rose by 80 percent to 15 percent of total sales.

This means that BMW is increasingly ahead of Audi and Mercedes. The BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands accounted for 1,836,563 cars sold in the past nine months.

More than Audi and Mercedes

This is not only more than in the same period in 2022 (1,747,838 cars), but also significantly more than Audi and Mercedes were able to sell. Audi remained at 1.4 million and Mercedes at over 1.5 million.

In addition, the BMW Group has recorded a profit increase of more than 10 percent so far in 2023. And while profits at Audi and Mercedes actually fell.

“As a brand, we are now number one in the global luxury segment,” Pieter Nota told Autovisie. Until recently he was responsible for marketing and sales at BMW.

Growth in China is lagging behind

“China is our largest market, but is currently lagging behind in terms of growth due to the weak economy.” Nevertheless, Nota is not worried.

“The middle class in China continues to grow, so the potential is enormous. Look at the number of cars per thousand people. In Europe there are six hundred, in the USA almost nine hundred and in China only two hundred and fifty.”