Audi sold more A4’s than BMW 3 Series in Germany

Before I get into this debate, I have to say that, at the moment, I do not have the BMW sale numbers for their 3 Series sold in Germany in 2008. But I will give you the story briefly as I learned about it from our friends at Autoblog and an official Audi press release. Over the last few months, I mentioned several times how in my conversations with BMW executives, I was reminded each time that the Audi is the new BMW competitor, despite the past history where everyone believed Mercedes-Benz is their biggest and most important competitor. In the past years, BMW and Audi have competed head-to-head on almost all the market segments, from luxury sedans and roadsters, to Sport Activity Vehicles. According to Audi and the German department of vehicle registration, in 2008, there were 98,714 A4 models registered, ahead of BMW 3 Series and behind the Volkswagen Golf. But here is where the confusion starts. While Autoblog reports that the total number represents the new A4 models registered, in the Audi's press release, there is no mention of the registration numbers being based on new vehicles registered only. Audi names their TT roadster one of the most successful models in their class, a statement that many might disagree with, but 2009 it's a whole new different game and the new BMW Z4 Roadster will most likely do very well. Regardless of this, we have to hand it to them, they built some great cars lately and they closed the gap that separated the Ingolstadt based carmaker from BMW or Mercedes. [Source: Autoblog ]