As the U.S. auto industry roared toward a record-breaking finish in 2015, BMW, the top-selling luxury brand for three of the four previous years, was clinging to a 553-vehicle lead over Mercedes-Benz. Surging Lexus was threatening to leapfrog both.
But BMW wouldn't leave this race to chance. A Nov. 30 memo dangled $1,000 bonuses for each 2015 3-series vehicle dealerships sold to themselves as a "specialty demo" -- but the offer was valid that day only. The next round of industry sales reports, released the following afternoon, showed BMW's edge over Mercedes had quadrupled.
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