{"id":6105,"date":"2026-10-12T15:46:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T10:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.motozite.com\/?p=6105"},"modified":"2026-10-12T15:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T10:17:13","slug":"q3-2026-luxury-car-sales-india-mercedes-bmw-audi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.motozite.com\/q3-2026-luxury-car-sales-india-mercedes-bmw-audi\/","title":{"rendered":"Q3 2026 Luxury Car Sales in India: Mercedes-Benz Posts a Record Quarter as BMW and Audi Wait Their Turn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mercedes-Benz India sold 5,422 cars between July and September 2026, its best-ever quarter and 6% more than the same period last year. That takes its January to September tally to 15,190 units, up 8% and a nine-month record. BMW<\/a><\/span><\/strong> Group India and Audi India had not published their Q3 numbers when this was written, so the fairest comparison right now is Mercedes’ Q3 against what its two German rivals reported for the first half: BMW Group at 9,075 units (up 17%) and Audi at 2,182 (up 3%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read together, those numbers say something more interesting than “Mercedes is still number one”. Mercedes is winning on mix and scale. BMW is winning on growth rate and electric cars. Audi is in a holding year while it waits for a new product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercedes-Benz India Q3 2026 sales at a glance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Period<\/strong><\/td>2026<\/strong><\/td>2025<\/strong><\/td>Change<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Q3 (July to September)<\/td>5,422<\/td>5,119<\/td>+6%<\/td><\/tr>
January to September<\/td>15,190<\/td>14,132<\/td>+8%<\/td><\/tr>
H1 (January to June)<\/td>9,768<\/td>9,013<\/td>+8%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Q3 was also up 17% on Q2 2026, which Mercedes credits to early festive buying and its finance schemes. That is early buying, not the festive peak, so a good part of the season’s demand will land in Q4 numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where Mercedes’ growth actually came from<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The headline number is solid but not spectacular. The detail underneath is where it gets interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top end is doing the heavy lifting<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mercedes groups its range into three bands, and the most expensive one is growing fastest. Top-End Luxury, which covers the S-Class<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, Mercedes-Maybach, G-Class<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, V-Class and AMG, made up more than a quarter of sales between January and September and grew 13% year on year. Nearly three-quarters of those top-end cars went through the MANUFAKTUR personalisation programme, which tells you these are buyers specifying paint and trim, not picking whatever is in stock. The AMG G 63 also recorded its highest-ever monthly sales in India during the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Core Luxury (C-Class, long-wheelbase E-Class, GLC, GLE) still makes up about 60% of volume, according to Autocar Pro, while Entry Luxury (GLA and the CLA electric) grew 4% and accounts for roughly 15%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the important point for anyone reading Mercedes’ numbers against BMW’s. Mercedes’ 8% growth comes with a richer mix. Fewer cars than a volume-led strategy would deliver, but more of them are S-Classes, Maybachs and G-Classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CLA electric is supply-limited, not demand-limited<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mercedes’ electric sales grew 16% over the nine months. That is respectable, but the more telling number is the backlog. The CLA electric, which went on sale in April at \u20b955 lakh ex-showroom, has more than 1,000 confirmed orders, with waiting times of up to six months and deliveries running into March 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercedes told Autocar India that supply constraints cost it 7 to 8 percentage points of EV penetration this year, and that it expects EVs to account for 20 to 25% of its sales next year if supply improves. The EV story at Mercedes is a supply problem, not a demand problem. The same report notes that diesel has edged up to 40% of Mercedes’ sales from 38%, a reminder that the long-distance luxury buyer has not gone electric yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want a CLA electric before spring, the realistic options are a demo car or an early pre-owned example. You can check current demo electric luxury car listings on Motozite<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What comes next for Mercedes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mercedes says deliveries of the electrified S-Class start in October, and the GLC electric is next in line. Both should show up in Q4 numbers, and the GLC in particular could change Mercedes’ EV share quickly, given how central the regular GLC is to its volume. Our earlier piece on the Mercedes GLC electric<\/a> covers what to expect from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BMW Group India: faster growth, still chasing on volume<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BMW<\/a><\/span><\/strong> Group India has not yet reported Q3 2026. Last year its Q3 figures were out by 10 October, so they should not be far away. What we do have is a very strong first half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BMW Group India, H1 2026<\/strong><\/td>Figure<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Total cars (BMW + MINI)<\/td>9,075, up 17%<\/td><\/tr>
Q2 2026<\/td>4,507, up 17%<\/td><\/tr>
Electric cars<\/td>2,359, up 78%<\/td><\/tr>
EV share of sales<\/td>26%<\/td><\/tr>
Long-wheelbase models<\/td>52% of sales<\/td><\/tr>
SUVs (SAVs)<\/td>65% of sales<\/td><\/tr>
MINI<\/td>504, up 70%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Three things stand out. First, the growth rate. At 17%, BMW grew roughly twice as fast as Mercedes in H1. Second, electric cars. One in four BMW Group cars sold in India in H1 was an EV, and BMW says it holds 69% of the luxury EV market. Third, the long-wheelbase bet. More than half of BMW’s sales are now LWB models, built for buyers who spend as much time in the back seat as the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gap between the two has narrowed sharply. In Q2 2026, Mercedes sold 4,637 cars to BMW Group’s 4,507, a difference of just 130 units. Over the full first half, Mercedes led BMW Group by 693 cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can BMW close the nine-month gap in Q3?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here is some simple arithmetic, ours rather than either company’s. BMW Group sold 4,204 cars in Q3 2025, its best third quarter at the time. To match Mercedes’ 5,422 in Q3 2026, BMW would need to grow its Q3 by about 29%. To draw level on the nine-month total, it would need about 6,115 cars in Q3, a jump of roughly 45%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If BMW simply repeats its H1 growth rate of 17% in Q3, it lands at about 4,920 cars for the quarter and around 14,000 for the nine months. That would keep it close but behind. BMW has front-loaded the second half with launches, though. The new 7 Series range and the first-ever i5<\/a><\/span><\/strong> Long Wheelbase (\u20b979.60 lakh ex-showroom) both launched in September, and in July the company said it planned 14 more launches across BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad before the year ends. Q4 is where this race will actually be decided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audi India: a holding year before the product push<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Audi’s H1 2026 number, 2,182 units and up 3% according to figures compiled by Autocar India, is the quietest of the three. The context matters. Audi<\/a><\/span><\/strong> sold 7,931 cars in India in 2023, 5,816 in 2024 and 4,510 in 2025. It now holds about 8% of the luxury market, and its own management expects 2026 sales to be broadly flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason is product. Audi launched only the SQ8 in the first half. That changes from here: the new Q3 arrives this festive season, and Audi’s India brand director Balbir Singh Dhillon has outlined six new models by the end of 2027, including the A5 sedan<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, the Q9 flagship SUV<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, new Q5<\/a><\/span><\/strong> and Q7<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, and the Q6 e-tron. The stated aim is to double its market share within three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our take: Audi’s numbers will not move meaningfully until 2027. That is not a reason to rule the brand out if you are shopping now, but it does mean the most important Audi decisions this year are about timing. If you are considering an Audi Q3, waiting for the new generation makes sense. Anything else in the line-up is a known quantity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q3 2026 luxury car sales: what it means if you are buying<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n