Mercedes-Benz gains number 2 spot in global luxury car sales this month, preceded by BMW and followed by Audi.

For the last 5 years, the global luxury car race has been dominated by these 3 German brands. BMW has remained the leader, while Mercedes and Audi go head to head for second and third position. This year Mercedes zoomed past Audi, selling 10,880 more units.

The Mercedes’ sales gain can be attributed to its strong market share in China, where the market is currently slow, as the country announced its largest currency devaluation in two decades. The first half of this year saw BMW and Audi sales drop in China with Mercedes taking the lead showing a surprising 42 percent increase in July challenging the current market conditions.

BMW is expected to strongly defend its title as the world’s largest luxury car manufacturer; it briefly took over its number 1 position beating Audi in April this year. But with Mercedes showing the strongest growth rate, it may just win the annual luxury car race, which promises a close finish for the top 3 luxury car manufacturers.

Last year, BMW sold 1,811,719 units with Audi in second place at 1,741,100 units and Mercedes at third selling 1,650,010 units.