[UPDATE] Audi has released global sales figures for 2022 during which it delivered 1,680,512 cars or 3.9% less than in 2021. It confirms BMW was the best-selling luxury brand last year, followed by Mercedes and Audi.
With 2022 in the rearview mirror, automakers are crunching the numbers to see how they fared in the year that just ended. Earlier today, the core BMW brand announced it shipped 2,100,692 cars in the past twelve months, or 5.1% less than the January-December 2021 interval. Archrival Mercedes-Benz has now published its sales figures, and they’re slightly lower compared to the Bavarian brand’s results.
The three-pointed star delivered 2,043,900 vehicles in 2022, representing a slight decline of 1% compared to the year before. The total figure includes sales of the V-Class, T-Class, and the EQV electric van. Doing the math, BMW was ahead by precisely 56,792 cars, without taking into consideration MINI sales. By the way, the Oxford-based marque shipped 292,923 vehicles, or 3% less year over year.
Audi has yet to publish its 2022 results, but the Four Rings have typically been behind BMW and Mercedes in the sales race for the luxury crown in the past years. For reference, the Ingolstadt automaker handed over 1,681,000 cars in 2021. BMW had a record-breaking year in 2021 with 2,213,795 units shipped to customers while Mercedes sold 2,093,476 cars.
Much like BMW is bragging about how it more than doubled sales of electric vehicles in 2022, Mercedes wishes to point out it shipped 124% more cars without combustion engines compared to the year before. In total, 117,800 EVs were delivered in the past 12 months. By 2030, Mercedes intends to go purely electric in certain markets where it will be possible to completely abandon sales of ICE-powered cars.
Speaking of the end of this decade, Rolls-Royce (which had a record-high 2022) intends to morph into an electric-only brand by 2030. MINI will follow suit shortly thereafter, while BMW has yet to announce when it’ll discontinue gasoline and diesel vehicles. Since we mentioned Audi earlier, the VW Group-owned luxury brand intends to launch only EVs from 2026 and end production of ICE cars by 2033.
For those who are wondering which was the best-selling Mercedes in 2022, the title goes to the BMW X3-rivaling GLC with 342,900 units or 3% more than in 2021. The 3 Series-fighting C-Class Sedan/Estate also had a strong year, with demand growing by 17% to 299,100 cars.
