BMW, Mercedes Hit Record Sales

German rivals BMW and DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes Car Group hit record sales in March. A new model assisted Mercedes-Benz to move ahead of Munich-based rival BMW by less than 3,000 autos last month.

BMW group sales rose 13.5% in March to a record 144,316 autos, amid double-digit percentage growth in the United States and BMW's home market of Germany and solid demand from new buyers in China.

Deliveries of its core BMW brand rose 16.8% to 122,509 units, while sales of the Mini brand fell 1.7% to 21,760 cars during expansion work at its England plant.

For the first quarter of 2006, BMW group sales increased 13.9% to 332,923 vehicles, keeping it ahead of the 295,000 cars sold by Mercedes Car Group, a gain of 12.2%.

Sales of the BMW 3 Series grew 54.2% in the first quarter to 122,691 vehicles. Car sales at Mercedes Car Group rose 17.4% to 138,400 units in March. Mercedes-Benz brand sales gained 21.4% to 125,400 autos.