BMW Widens Lead Over Mercedes at the Half-Year Mark

(Bloomberg) -- BMW AG more than doubled its U.S. sales lead over Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz in June with a strong performance from its fresher line of SUVs.

Deliveries jumped 7.5% last month to 31,627, paced by the diminutive X3 crossover and three-row X7 sport utility vehicle. BMW sales rose 2% at the half-year mark, building a lead over Mercedes of more than 9,000 units.

Sales for Mercedes, which held the luxury crown the past three years, were little changed in June from a year ago at 26,196 units, leaving the Daimler division down 7.2% in the first half. Deliveries plunged more than 30% for both the C-Class sedan and GLS crossover.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus deliveries slipped 3% in June, leaving the brand up 0.5% year-to-date. The ES sedan was the only high-volume Lexus model to gain in June.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gabrielle Coppola in New York at gcoppola@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Melinda Grenier

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