BMW overtakes Mercedes-Benz as top-selling US luxury car brand

BMW has overtaken Mercedes-Benz as the top-selling luxury car brand in the US in 2014, having sold more than 9,000 vehicles over its German rival.

In 2013, Mercedes-Benz seized the title held by BMW for the previous two years, selling about 3,000 more vehicles than BMW.

BMW's car sales in the US increased 9.8% over 2013 to 339,738 units, compared to the US auto market's average 5.9% increase during the year.

Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand witnessed a 5.7% increase in sales to 330,391 vehicles.

Lexus brand, owned by Toyota, came in at No 3 by selling 311,389 vehicles, up 13.7% from 2013. Lexus was No 1 from 2000 to 2010, before the two German brands overcame it in 2011, when the Great East Japan earthquake hit the nation, significantly damaging its manufacturing sector.

Volkswagen's Audi claimed the fourth position, overtaking General Motor's Cadillac. Audi reported sales of 182,011, up 15.2%, while Cadillac's sales fell by 6.5% to 170,750 vehicles.

The sixth-largest selling luxury brand in 2014 was Honda Motor's Acura that sold 167,843 vehicles, up 1.5% from last year. Nissan Motor's Infiniti was No 7 with sales rising 0.8% to 117,300 vehicles.

Ford Motor's Lincoln brand, which was the market leader a couple of decades ago, was at the eighth place. The brand's sales have increased by 15.6% to 94,474 vehicles.