Mercedes on track to beat BMW in luxury car sales in 2016

The 2017 Mercedes-Benz CLA Coupe.

Mercedes-Benz was the biggest seller of luxury cars globally in the first quarter, monthly registration figures showed on Wednesday (NZ time), putting it in the frame to knock BMW off the top spot this year for the first time in a decade.
Mercedes, owned by Daimler, has not been the best-selling luxury car brand since 2004, but is surging ahead thanks to growth in China, the world's largest car market, where its sales jumped 36.4 per cent in the first quarter.
Analysts at IHS Automotive forecast that Mercedes' luxury car sales worldwide will exceed those of BMW this year.
Total sales of Mercedes-Benz in the first quarter reached 483,487, topping BMW's 478,743 cars, the registration figures showed.