German premium auto manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes and Audi have been racing down the fast lane scooping up profits and sales the last five years as they rode China's unprecedented expansion and latched on to the recent U.S. market recovery.
Doubters warn that this success can't last. But this gravity-defiance is likely to continue although profits may return to less stratospheric levels. Experts doubt whether the German dominance of the premium car market will be threatened either. Their biggest threat might be self-inflicted, from, say, a hubris-driven takeover (like the Mercedes takeover of Chrysler, or out-of-control competition as they perhaps scramble irrationally for sales leadership and bragging rights at the expense of profits.
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