2022 Global Auto Sales: BMW Edges Mercedes-Benz, VW and Audi Fall, And More…

2022 was set to become a recovering year for automakers, as the world was slowly yet surely phasing away from the economic recession due to the pandemic. While it is somewhat expected that most automakers are having difficulties in recuperating back to their pre-pandemic performances, some marques, especially the luxurious ones, managed to thrive beyond expectations.

Starting off in Germany, two of the nation’s biggest marques, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, saw declines in their annual sales and deliveries. The former marque managed to deliver a total of 2,100,692 units around the globe for the 2022 calendar year – about 5% lower than the previous year’s figure. Mercedes-Benz, on the other hand, sold 2,043,900 vehicles globally in the same period, albeit experiencing a slightly better downfall of only 1% compared to the previous year.

This revelation, in turn, saw BMW retaining its crown as the best-selling German premium marque in 2022, by edging Mercedes-Benz with a relatively minimal advantage of 56,792 units.

The Bavarian marque’s triumphant feat against its close-knit rival can also be seen through the local lens, where BMW Malaysia retained the crown as the country’s number one premium automotive brand for the third consecutive year in 2022. This three-peat feat saw BMW Malaysia deliver a total of 11,855 units in 2022 alone, which is about 38% more than the previous year.

Fortunately, both brands saw positive signs of recovery in the final quarter of 2022, with BMW recording a 10.6% growth in Q4 2022, while Mercedes-Benz registered a higher 17% increase in its growth compared to the third quarter of 2022.

Next in line is Volkswagen and Audi, where both brands saw decreases in their annual global sales. The former marque’s worldwide sales in 2022 were about 4.56 million units – about 6.8% less than the previous year. Audi, meanwhile, delivered about 1,614,231 vehicles worldwide, which was 3.9% lower than the previous year. The Four Rings brand’s 2022 sales performance has garnered the marque to become the third best-selling premium car brands in Germany, trailing behind the two German giants mentioned before.

Contrary to their overall sales figures, both of the brands’ EVs sales increased, with Volkswagen delivering about 330,000 EVs in 2022 alone – 23.6% more than the previous year. Audi’s e-tron EV line-up managed to garner its own fans, with 118,196 electric models sold this year, which was 42.8% higher than before.

Surprisingly (or not), demand for Audi performance models was up by 15.6% compared to the previous year, where its performance arm managed to deliver 45,515 units in 2022.

Sticking to Volkswagen Group’s passenger cars brand, Lamborghini’s stellar 2022 global sales saw them setting a new sales record. The famed Italian marque delivered a total of 9,233 vehicles worldwide, a 10% increase compared to 2021.

The bulk of Lamborghini’s 2022 sales stem from the Urus SUV, with 5,367 units delivered. The flagship SUV is being tailed by the Huracan, who clinched the second best-selling crown, with 3,113 units delivered. Lamborghini’s flagship supercar, the Aventador, closed-off its final production year by selling 753 units in total.

As for the market share, the US remained Lamborghini’s number one market, with over 2,700 vehicles delivered to the country in 2022 alone. The Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau markets settled for second-best with 1,018 units delivered, followed by Germany at 808 units. Aside from the sales growth, 2022 also saw Lamborghini growing its retail presence from 173 to 180 stores in 53 countries.

Another VW Group-affiliated performance car marque, Bugatti, has also recorded an excellent 2022 sales. The French boutique automaker manufactured a total of 80 new vehicles worldwide, which is the highest-ever production number in a single calendar year it has ever achieved in its century-long history.

Among the 80 hand-built Bugatti to roll-off its Molsheim facility last year was the 400th Chiron, as well as the final nine examples of the Chiron Super Sport 300+. Aside from the Chiron, the final 10 units of the Centodieci were also assembled and delivered.

Aside from Lamborghini and Bugatti, other luxury marques like Bentley and Rolls-Royce have also set new sales records in 2022, with the former selling over 15,000 vehicles globally, and the latter managing to break the 6,000 units mark for the first time in its entire history. Just like Lambo, both Bentley and Rolls-Royces’ best-selling models are their respective flagship SUVs, namely the Bentayga and Cullinan.