The premium vehicle business is not a pretty place to hang out right now, with myriad challenges weighing down on sales both in South Africa and abroad.
With a cost of living crisis impacting the luxury goods market across the globe and an increasing array of Chinese cars offering a gluttonous array of luxury features belying their bargain price tags, it’s not hard to understand why the traditional luxury car brands all saw their global sales numbers drop in 2025.
When the numbers for 2024 were crunched, BMW emerged as the top player, with 2,450,804 global sales recorded by the Group as a whole, including Mini, Rolls-Royce and Motorrad, and 2,200,177 sales for the BMW brand alone. Group sales were down by 4.0% versus 2023, while BMW brand sales dropped by 2.3%.
Mercedes sold 2,389,000 cars and vans in 2024, also 4% down on the previous year, while the car brand recorded 1,983,400 sales (down 3%) to put it significantly behind its Munich rival.
But a new superpower is emerging, with Tesla having ousted Audi for third place in the global ranking. Elon Musk’s electric car brand managed to move 1.79 million cars in 2024, according to Bloomberg, with sales declining by just 1.1% year-on-year.
Audi, however, saw its global sales slide by 12% to 1.67 million units in 2024. The Ingolstadt-based carmaker attributed the sales decrease to challenging economic conditions, an intensely competitive market and limited availability of parts, but there is optimism for the years ahead.
“We have a clear vision of how we are redefining Vorsprung durch Technik. Our ongoing model initiative shows the direction Audi is taking. The year 2024 was part of a transitional phase as we move towards our new product portfolio,” said Audi CEO Gernot Döllner.
BMW also topped the premium brand charts in South Africa, averaging a shade over 1,000 units per month with a 2024 total of 12,057 sales.
Mercedes-Benz followed with local sales of 9,256 while Audi sold 5,511 units in the year. Rounding out the South African top six were Land Rover (2,624), Volvo Car (1,428) and Porsche (1,258).
Mixed results for electric vehicles
With Tesla nipping at the heels of the premium car market, BMW managed to increase its sales of fully electric vehicles by 11.6% to 368,523 units while its Mini brand grew its EV numbers by 24.3%, to total 56,181.
However, Mercedes saw its EV sales decline by 23% to 185,100 units, and Audi saw an 8% drop to 164,000.
“The BMW Group is maintaining its growth trajectory for fully-electric vehicles amid challenging market conditions. This is reflected in both the significant sales growth for fully-electric vehicles and the clear rise in new BEV orders in Europe,” said BMW AG board member Jochen Goller. “We are confident we can maintain our BEV sales growth in 2025 with our strong and expanded product line-up.”
IOL