(June 8, 2011) BMW has gained bragging rights as the top selling luxury nameplate in the U.S.

Sales of BMW brand vehicles increased 15.6% in May for a total of 20,651 compared to 17,859 vehicles sold in May 2010.

The figure was good enough to edge out German rival Mercedes-Benz, which recorded 20,306 sales.

No other luxury manufacturer was close as Lexus, which has been for years a consistent leader, faltered badly in May. Lexus sold 12,305 vehicles compared to May 2010 when it regeistered 22,416. Audi recorded 10,457 sales and Cadillac sold 11,623 units.

The BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported May sales of 26,452 vehicles, an increase of 19.7 percent from the 22,092 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago.  

Year-to-date, BMW Group is up 18.7% on sales of 116,656 in the first five months of 2011 compared to 98,254 in the same period in 2010.

"This month, BMW and MINI sales progress continues in what's clearly a yo-yo economy as consumer sentiment varies from optimism to pessimism month-to-month," said Jim O'Donnell, President and CEO, BMW of North America.  "We believe it's having a steady run of new models as we've just added the new 6 Series Convertible to the new X3 and 5 Series to further drive BMW sales, and MINI is no different because of the new Countryman as well as higher gas prices increasing small vehicle focus."