It may be hard to believe, but BMWs can be cheaper in Korea than cars from Hyundai.

Lower tariffs are making German imports cheaper than local Korean-made vehicles.

A BMW 528i for example, is around $64,000 in South Korea while the flagship Kia K9 is around $76,400. Even consumers in South Korea are abandoning their dedication to their domestic brands realizing that German vehicles offer a better luxury bargain.

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BMW isn’t the only German automaker to be benefiting. Mercedes-Benz and Audi have also seen sales increase at the expense of Kia and Hyundai over recent years now that duties on European imports have fallen to 3.2 percent from eight percent since a trade pact was put into effect in 2011.

All of Germany’s big three automakers have seen sales in South Korea rise 25 percent in the first growth – that’s even faster growth than what they’re seeing in China. Hyundai on the other hand, saw its luxury high-end model sales drop 4.7 percent in the same period.

Overall, foreign luxury automakers in South Korea have seen sales grow to 41 percent from 28 percent in the past two years.

GALLERY: 2014 Hyundai Equus Live Shots

GALLERY: 2014 Hyundai Equus

[Source: Bloomberg]

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The BMW Group, which consists of BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce, has posted its best April global sales yet with a total of 155,419 vehicles sold last month.

The strong April, which was an increase of 6.8 percent in sales, gave the BMW Group a new all-time high of 603,619 vehicles sold during the first four months of the year. BMW brand vehicles rose 7.5 percent to 130,598 last month compared to April 2012 while worldwide MINI sales increased 3.3 percent. The BMW Group is enjoying success thanks to strong gains in the Asian and American markets.

Deliveries of the BMW X1 increased 14.8 percent compared to last year, with 11,837 units delivered in April. The 3 Series climbed 16 percent compared to last year to 38,491 units while the 3 Series Touring more than doubled with 104.6 percent growth. A total of 512,000 BMW vehicles have been delivered to customers worldwide in 2013, an increase of 7.1 percent.

Last month, MINI delivered 24,581 vehicles and its worldwide sales increased 3.3 percent.

China accounted for 30,311 deliveries last month while the Americas sold 36,547 vehicles for an increase of 11.7 percent. Europe contributed to the total with 69,957 vehicles.

Discuss this story at BimmerWerkz.com

In hopes of catching to rival Mercedes-Benz in 2012 sales, BMW is offering its current lessees the opportunity to skip up to three payments if they purchase a brand new or certified pre-owned vehicle. 

The incentive program will run through the end of the month and is a program offered through BMW Financial Services. Offers are being mailed out to current BMW lease owners of most of its 2010 model year vehicle lineup.

Mercedes-Benz extended its lead over BMW to 5,221 deliveries through September as it strives to become America’s top luxury automaker. BMW is now looking for ways to make up ground as it heads into the final quarter of the year.

Eligible models for the German automaker’s lease pull-ahead program include the 1- and 3-Series sedans, 5-, 6-, and 7-Series models. BMW X3, X5, and X6 SUV lessees will also be eligible. Unfortunately those leasing M models or 3-Series coupes and convertibles cannot take advantage.

This is the third time this year that BMW Financial Services has offered a lease pull-ahead program to help drive additional sales.

[Source: Automotive News]

Audi looks poised to overtake BMW‘s seven-year reign as the top automaker in global premium sales this year. The German automaker has cut BMW’s lead to just 2,110 vehicles in August.

Compared to last year, Audi’s performance this year is extremely promising for the luxury German automaker. In 2011, BMW led by 40,513 vehicles through August, compared to the 2,110 this year. Last year, Audi overtook Mercedes-Benz for second place in premium-vehicle deliveries, and this year could threaten BMW’s firm grip at that top position.

The newly-updated Audi A3 hatchback just went on sale in Germany last month, which will undoubtedly boost the automaker’s sales heading into the rest of the year. In terms of last month’s sales, Audi posted an impressive 108,100 while BMW sold 102,730. The German automaker attributes much of its growth on the China market, while the United States is also playing a role.

[Source: Automotive News]

In the heated battle for US luxury sales supremacy, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are head-to-head, but BMW reported 21,297 sales last month to take a 1,900 lead on rival Mercedes.

But those figures may not be as accurate as they appear. It’s no secret that automakers of all shapes and sizes will boost their sales numbers however way they can; but BMW is being called out for boosting it with dealership demo car sales – which aren’t really ending up as demo cars. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the German automaker offered its dealerships demo vehicles at discounts of up to $7,000 as a one-day, last-day-of-the-month promotion.

Those units sold were documented as sales by the automaker, but those dealerships are actually throwing those cars onto the lots and selling them as new. That means there are still plenty of those cars sitting on the showroom floor as inventory, but were counted towards BMW’s total sales count year-to-date.

But here’s the thing – this isn’t exactly an uncommon practice. In fact, Mercedes has been accused of doing the same in the past, and it’d be no real big surprise if other automakers did the same. Unfortunately, when there’s such a heated debate on which luxury brand owns the US sales crown, every automaker towards the top of the list will be under extra scrutiny.

For decades, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have been competing for dominance in the luxury car market. In 2011, BMW took the top honors beating its German rival by just 2,715 vehicles sold. The race is even closer now, at least for the end of the first quarter of 2012, with BMW selling a mere 36 more cars than Mercedes.

In the month of March, BMW saw an increase of 18 percent in sales thanks to its new 3-Series model. Mercedes-Benz had sold 770 more cars than BMW heading into March, so it was a hotly contested sales race. It’s worth noting that the sales figures do not include Daimler’s Sprinter vans and Smart cars, or BMW’s MINI models since those aren’t considered luxury vehicles.

Mercedes also has its newly-redesigned GLK SUV heading to showrooms later this year while BMW will continue to push its new 3-Series model.

U.S. sales of BMW hit 23,940 last month while Mercedes increased 7.7 percent to 23,134. Lexus, who used to hold the top spot in the luxury segment for years fell 2.6 percent to 20,140.

[Source: Automotive News]

For the second straight month, Mercedes-Benz topped BMW in sales, bringing them just 1,600 units behind in annual deliveries to its German luxury counterpart. Both brands are trying to replace Lexus, who has been at the top of the luxury sales list for the past 11 years, and this years’ race is probably the closest.

With the tragic earthquake and tsunami hitting Japan back in March earlier this year, Lexus cars and SUVs were low in supply dropping their brand’s year-to-date sales 14-percent to 173,197. In November however, Lexus increased US deliveries by 6.7-percent. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz sales rose 47-percent in November to 26,796 to help them top BMW for two months in a row. BMW’s sales in November rose 7-percent bringing their November total to 21,521.

Looking at the year as a whole, BMW’s lead over Mercedes-Benz in sales is only 1,582 – so another strong month by Mercedes-Benz could catapult them over rival BMW to close off the year. Mercedes can attribute their recent boost in sales to their refreshed C- and M-Class vehicles. The C-Class Coupe has become a respectable rival to BMW’s 3-Series, and Mercedes is currently offering some very attractive lease specials.

[Source: Automotive News]