BERLIN: BMW delivered more cars than Audi in May, though its German rival is still gaining ground on BMW this year in a tight race for dominance of the luxury car market.
BMW said on Monday that sales of its BMW-branded luxury cars rose 10 percent in May to 153,023 autos, noting strong demand in the United States and Asia. The increase meant it narrowly beat Audi's 152,000 deliveries.
Five-month sales at BMW were up 11 percent to 722,129 cars, compared with a 12 percent gain to 713,900 autos at Audi, Volkswagen's premium-car division.
That means Audi has shrunk the year-to-date sales gap with BMW by a quarter to 8,229 cars from 10,989 a year ago, after outselling the Munich-based brand in January and April.
BMW aims to push deliveries above 2 million in 2014, from 1.96 million last year, compared with Audi's target to "clearly" improve upon its 2013 record of 1.58 million sales.
The sales gap between Germany's three leading premium carmakers has been closing this year. Third-placed Mercedes, benefiting from a range of overhauled models including the new C-Class and E-Class, narrowed its own gap with Audi by over a third to 72,516 cars after five months.
BMW group sales, including the core luxury brand, Rolls-Royce and MINI, rose 6.8 percent last month to 177,741 autos.
BMW Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer said in a June 2 interview with German magazine Automobilwoche that the carmaker was reconsidering to what extent competing with rivals Audi and Mercedes for the title of luxury-sales champion was still a priority for BMW.
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