BERLIN— Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, once written off as a stuffy brand for old men, is poised to reclaim the top spot among premium car brands for the year after a decade of trailing homegrown rivals BMW AG and Audi AG.

Mercedes has made a furious global sales comeback that began three years ago with therelaunch of its flagship S-Class, short for “Sonderklasse,” or a car that is in a class of its own. The company also gave its entire fleet a design makeover and invested heavily to catch up to Audi and BMW in China, the world’s biggest car market by sales.

Through the first three months this year, Daimler’s efforts have paid off globally. Mercedes-Benz overtook BMW to sell 483,487 cars under its own nameplate so far this year, with sales rising nearly 13%, twice the growth rate of its rival. That puts Mercedes-Benz in pole position as the race for the 2016 luxury-brand sales crown continues.

“Mercedes-Benz posted the strongest unit sales in the company’s history in March. And we remain on track,” Ola Källenius, Daimler board member in charge of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said in a statement.

Munich-based BMW, whose new 7-Series sedan has failed to make a significant dent in the S-Class’s lead, sold 478,743 BMW brand cars in the first three months of the year, a 6% increase from a year ago. BMW also posted its best month of sales in March.