BMW May Have Inflated July Sales Totals To Edge Out Mercedes As Top Luxury Brand

DETROIT - According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report yesterday, BMW might have artificially inflated it's sales numbers to beat out rival Mercedes-Benz for the current month's title of most luxury cars sold.

The report noted that BMW might have listed demo unit cars as sold in July, but that those vehicles are still on showroom floors being listed as new vehicles. The company made a special offer to dealers on July 31. For one day only, the dealers would receive discounts of as much as $7,000 per 2012-model car as long as each vehicle was reported as sold that day, said the report.

BMW spokesman Ken Sparks told the WSJ that the company doesn't break out demo units - cars that are kept on the lot for test drives - separate from it's other figures. He declined to comment on the reports that this practice inflated sales numbers.

On Aug. 1, BMW reported July sales spiked for the vehicle types eligible for the demo discounts. It sold 1,696 of its 7 Series sedans in July, the highest monthly total so far this year, and triple the June total of 539. For the 3 Series coupe, which had demo discounts totaling $3,200, sales climbed to 2,555 cars, up from 1,222 in June and that vehicle's highest total for the year. Dealers told the WSJ they believe a few thousand BMW vehicles were sold as demos. The auto maker reported it sold 21,297 vehicles in July compared with 19,312 for Mercedes.

One reason for the practice, the WSJ reported, is that dealers want to show they are clearing out 2012 inventory, so they will be given a larger percentage of the 2013 models currently in production. "If you don't sell the cars in North America, they're going to send them to China," Internet salesman Justin Wong said. "Everybody is fighting for allocation."

The discounts at the end of last month ranged last month from $2,500 on the 528i rear-wheel and all-wheel drive sedans to $7,000 for any 7 Series sedan, according to a memo BMW sent to dealers, a copy of which was reviewed by the WSJ.