BMW Fails to Keep Lead Over Mercedes-Benz in January U.S. Sales

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s BMW failed to keep its lead over Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz in January, getting some payback after December’s sales push to seal its place as 2011’s top-selling U.S. luxury brand.

BMW deliveries rose 3.1 percent to 16,405 last month in the U.S., the Munich-based automaker said yesterday in a statement. Mercedes sales rose 24 percent to 20,306, as deliveries of its C-Class model surged 56 percent, the automaker said. Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus brand deliveries declined 4.6 percent to 12,274 vehicles.