BMW aims to overtake Mercedes in total sales by 2020, chief executive officer Harald Krueger has said in an interview.

Speaking to German monthly Manager Magazin, Krueger said his company would introduce a number of models – “the largest vehicle offensive in the history of BMW” – in order to overtake rival Daimler’s brand within the next two years.

Pivotal to the increase in volumes would be a reorganisation of BMW into a “mobility and tech” group. “It’s not enough just to be in the lead when it comes to sales. Being a quality leader, number one in customer satisfaction – that’s what our employees have to be excited about,” Krüger said.

He added: “In 2020 we will be number one in terms of unit sales again. I am holding my team to that target, even if it won’t be a walk in the park.” However, the aim would still be to keep gross earnings between 8% 10% of sales.

The BMW brand was ahead of Mercedes-Benz in sales until 2017, when Daimler’s make sold 200,000 cars more. In the 18 months to June 2017, UK sales for Mercedes were about 6,000 units higher than BMW’s.

The two groups also share a rivalry in the mobility space. Daimler operates car sharing app Car2go, taxi booking service Mytaxi and navigation app Moovel, while BMW owns DriveNow, ParkNow and ChargeNow, as well as having its own Institute for Mobility Research.

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