Why Mercedes is ruining BMW's 100th birthday
Next week BMW will celebrate its 100th anniversary - just in time for the Geneva Motor Show - but across the showroom floor, Mercedes-Benz is looking to capture the title of top luxury car brand which BMW has held for a decade, Bloomberg is reporting.
In fact, Mercedes will have the better offering at Geneva, according to Bloomberg's Elisabeth Behrmann wrote:
The news of Mercedes' resurgence is a surprise to critics who had, just a few years ago, declared that the three-pointed star had lost some of its luster.
Since then, CEO of Mercedes-Benz's parent company Daimler AG Dieter Zetsche has lead a sales charge in China, while BMW's sales have struggled there.
But the biggest reason for BMW's stalled grown may be that it simply has run out of room:
While technical challenges are an industry constant, what BMW has depended on for that top spot are new markets - which for the time being seem to be exhausted.
And the biggest new bet that BMW has made lately - the electric and electric-hybrid "i" series - is threatened by falling oil prices.