Mercedes-Benz sold over 2.16 million passenger cars in 2020 – top luxe brand again, ahead of BMW, Audi

Mercedes-Benz has, for the fifth year running, sold more cars than BMW. Throughout 2020, the three-pointed star sold 2,164,187 passenger cars globally, ahead of BMW with 2,028,659 units. Note that these figures are purely for Mercedes- and BMW-branded cars, and don’t include MINI, Rolls-Royce, or Mercedes-Benz commercial vans.

Despite major disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the automaker managed to deliver more than two million cars for the fifth consecutive year. More impressively, total sales only dropped -7.5% compared to the 2,339,562 vehicles sold in 2019.

The largest markets for the automaker were China, Germany, US, Great Britain, and South Korea. In the Asia-Pacific region, sales increased by 4.7% to 1,024,315 units, with the primary sales driver being China. The country recovered swiftly – from a pandemic-induced lockdown in Q1 2020 – to post a new sales record of 774,382 units. That is a whopping 11.7% year-on-year increase.

In Europe, it sold 784,183 passenger cars last year (-16.4%), while in Germany, Mercedes-Benz sold a total of 286,108 cars (-10.1%). Sales in North America totaled 317,592 units (-14.7%), of which 274,916 cars were sold in the US alone (-13.0%).

Now for specific models. The S-Class was once again the best-selling luxury sedan in the world, with about 60,000 units delivered (-17.2%). The new W223 model that debuted in September was very well received – over 40,000 orders have been placed worldwide, exceeding the order intake enjoyed by the preceding W222 model.

For compact cars, it sold more than 691,000 units (3.6% increase), whereas SUVs enjoyed a staggering 12.9% growth with 885,000 units delivered. The best-selling Mercedes-Benz model is none other than the GLC, with approximately 320,000 units sold.

The automaker’s AMG line-up also fared reasonably well. In total, about 125,129 cars bearing the Affalterbach badge were sold worldwide (-5.3%). China saw the biggest spike with a 32.3% year-on-year increase, but the US – which saw a 1.5% growth – remains AMG’s largest market. BMW M, on the other hand, sold 144,218 cars globally, up 5.9% from the year before.

A total of 38,391 units of smart cars were sold (-67.1%), so if that were to be included in the passenger cars tally, the figure is 2,202,578 vehicles (-10.3%). The commercial vans, meanwhile, saw a -8.9% dip with full-year sales tallied at 325,771 units. Add them all up and you’ll get 2,528,349 collective vehicle sales.

Comparatively, the BMW Group sold 2,324,809 cars, which include MINI and Rolls-Royce, but excludes motorbikes (169,272 units). Audi delivered a total of 1,692,773 models, a -8.3% decrease compared to the year before. Models parked under the Audi Sport family saw sales increase by 16.1% to 29,300 cars, the best result it has ever achieved.

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