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BMW reclaims US luxury sales crown from Mercedes

The numbers, they are in: BMW has reclaimed the luxury-sales crown from Mercedes by a margin of 9,347 cars. Mercedes donned the king's headgear in 2013 after a strong final quarter of 2013 when the new CLA and S-Class poured out of dealerships. This year, led by the 3 Series/4 Series and X5, BMW sold 339,738 units – a 9.8-percent increase year-on-year. Mercedes, led by the C-Class and M-Class, saw its sales go up by 5.7 percent to 330,391 units. We'll have to wait a bit to see if there's another registrations-vs-sales challenge as in 2012, when BMW was anointed US luxury ruler. Behind them, a dark horse named Lexus nudged closer to the leading Teutons, selling 311,389 cars. The Japanese luxury automaker also had the biggest gain among the top three, its sales rising by 13.7 percent compared to 2013. Audi had the biggest sales of anyone among the top five, though, with a 15.2-percent gain to 182,011, which moved it a spot ahead of Cadillac; the Wreath-and-Crest brand dropped 6.5 percent to 170,750. Acura (167,843), Infiniti (117,300), and Lincoln (94,474) took the final positions. Speaking of Lincoln, sales at the once-mighty luxury marque stand as the mightiest jump of any on this list, up 15.6 percent. That's the power of Matthew McConaughey... and better cars and a new crossover, sure. So now that we're back to Round One of 2015, in case no one else has said it yet: "Ok, fight!"

Daily Driver: 2016 Audi A7

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in theAutoblog test fleet, reviewed by the staffers who drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2016 Audi A6, reviewed by Seyth Miersma. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. Show full video transcript text Hey, all. This is Seyth with Autoblog, and I'm in the 2016 Audi A7 3.0. It's interesting, initially, I thought that I wouldn't do any kind of video review on this car because I've already done reviews on the Audi RS7 and the Audi S7. I didn't want to be overly heavy handed on the Audi A7 range, but I thought I'd at least do a quick update because it's a little bit interesting to compare and contrast all three versions of the car. This A7 has got a supercharged 3.0-liter V6 engine. It makes 333 horsepower, 325 pound-feet of torque. The MSRP starts around $69,000 when you factor in the destination charge. The one that I'm driving is right around $78,000. You look around the cabin, and you see typically nice Audi fare. It definitely feels like you're in a high-end car. Compare that to the S7, and you lose about 120 horsepower, and you add to that sticker price around $14,000. Move up to the RS7, which if you'll remember I characterized as a supercar with a hatchback, you're down way more than 200 horsepower and right around $35,000. When you take the step down especially in power you expect that the performance is not only going to lag but might be a little bit disappointing being as I was in the fancier ones first. The truth is after all these miles, this car is really fantastic especially the RS7. It really surprised me with its ability to combine just crazy good performance with great livability, never overly harsh, not a lot of impact noises. The suspension didn't beat you up. All that is obviously true of this A7 too. You don't have that top end and maybe not all of the outright ability, but it still feels very capable and a lot of fun to drive when you want to push it. You get a powerful V6, which makes the car feel pretty damn fast. Now as I'm speeding along here, I don't get the same sort of aural enjoyment from this car as I do from the V8s. Those guys just sound crazy good especially when you're really getting into it. The V6 you really got to work at to hear even, but it's satisfying, and it just feels nice and light and powerful when you're going down the road.

Will Audi surprise us with an all-electric SUV?

Audi may be looking to get seriously competitive in the electric vehicle market, according to a report from Reuters. The company has plans prepared for a range of EVs that would compete with the likes of BMW and Tesla. In a market where innovation is seen as valuable, getting on board with electrification could help Audi avoid appearing out of step with the rest of the crowd (and the market), with analysts predicting a sharp uptick in battery-powered cars in the next several years. Building on the E-Tron line, which already includes the A3 E-Tron, Audi will begin offering an electric version of its R8 supercar in Europe next year. According to two confidential sources at Audi, the company also has plans for high-performance electric sedans and SUVs. It appears as though Audi is taking direct aim at Tesla with alternatives to the current Model S and the upcoming Model X SUV. Advantage: Audi? Without getting into too many specifics about such plans, the sources did confirm the existence of blueprints for an Audi Q8 E-Tron. Audi has said that any future electric cars would have a target range of 400 kilometers (about 249 miles), but previous reports suggest that the Q8 E-Tron could have a range of about 370 miles. That could be a serious challenge for Tesla. Advantage: Audi? All the German automakers have electric tricks up their sleeves. BMW has its i line, with the i3 making headway and the i8 expected to sell well. Mercedes-Benz has gotten into the game the B-Class Electric Drive. Also, its parent company Daimler has a stake in Tesla. Now, Audi appears poised to launch its own diverse electric fleet, and the next move might just be an SUV. And while this added competition might seem like tough news for Tesla, the proliferation of EVs, and the growing infrastructure that goes along with it, is more likely a tide that raises all (electric) ships - something that Elon Musk seems to understand very well.