Carmaker BMW keeps luxury top spot with record 2013 sales

The German company said it sold 1.66mn BMW brand vehicles, 7.5% more than the previous year

BMW kept the luxury car top spot in 2013 against rivals Audi and Mercedes. Photograph: Miguel Villagran/Getty Images

BMW has posted record sales for 2013, keeping its No 1 spot in the market for high-priced cars against its German competitors Audi and Mercedes.

The Munich-based luxury carmaker said on Monday it had sold 1.66m vehicles under the BMW brand, 7.5% more than the previous year.

BMW also increased sales of the Mini and Rolls-Royce, with Mini sales hitting a record 305,000 vehicles, up 1.2% from 2012. The US remains the largest market for the compact car with 66,000 sold last year, followed by 53,000 in the UK.

Rolls-Royce increased its unit sales by 1.5% to 3,630 as the new Wraith model – a "fastback" with sloping roofline and striking two-tone paint options – saw its first deliveries to customers in the fourth quarter.

Sales of BMWs were boosted by strong sales of the brand's mainstay 3-series sedan and X1 small SUV as well as by rising demand in China and the US. Sales of the 3-series rose 23%.

Volkswagen AG's Audi division last week reported sales of 1.57 million last year and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz brand came in at 1.46 million. The three carmakers are pillars of Germany's export-focused economy and have reaped fat earnings selling luxury cars and SUVs – which earn higher profits per vehicle than mass-market vehicles – in the United States and in emerging markets, led by China.

The competition among the three heats up on Monday at the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where Mercedes is introducing a new version of its C-Class that will compete with the BMW 3-series. BMW is showing off its new 2-series small sports coupe.

BMW sales chief Ian Robertson credited the company's model lineup and "balanced sales distribution across all continents." He forecast that "despite difficult conditions in many markets," the company would increase sales yet again in 2014