Back in May of 2011, luxury giants BMW and Mercedes-Benz were neck-and-neck in the race to the top. Both had already edged out Lexus, who had previously held the top luxury sales spot for nearly a decade. The good news at the time was that BMW held the top spot. The news that made Bob Smith BMW a little nervous? Mercedes-Benz was only 29 units behind. And as we closed out the year, both automakers kept their final sales numbers a secret to keep us all in suspense a bit longer.

Yes, BMW took the top spot this year. That doesn't mean the Tri-Pointed Star didn't put up a good fight though, trailing behind BMW by merely 2,600 sales. To put this in perspective, the third best-selling luxury automaker was Lexus, who sold over 45,000 units less than the number two automaker. And both automakers celebrated double-digit sales increases of 2010.

You might be thinking, of course Lexus lost sales this year. Yes, with the natural disasters that plagued Japan this year, it's not really a shock to hear that the Big L suffered some losses this year. But the Germans have been working very hard to take the lead for a long time, and there are some pretty impressive new cars in the BMW lineup this year to prove it. Now that BMW has claimed the lead, don't expect them to give it up without a fight.

More specifically: have you seen the new 3 Series? With seductive new styling language, three customizable packages (Sport, Luxury, Modern), up to 320 ponies of power, it's no wonder BMW says, "Consider the bench, Marked."¹

Check out all of the new BMW models, including the all-new 3 Series, 5 Series, and BMW X5, online. See something you like? Contact Bob Smith BMW via our website or give us a call at (888) 707-6277 to talk to a member of our team and arrange a test drive. Or, stop by and see them in person - we're located at 24500 Calabasas Rd Calabasas, CA 91302.

Source:¹http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/vehicles/2012/3/default.aspx