Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada – December 2013

In December 2013, Canada’s third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth-best-selling luxury brand nameplates were utility vehicles.

So were the twelfth and 14th. And, though you won’t see them ranked here, the 16th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 26th-best-selling luxury vehicles in December 2013 in Canada – SRX, Range Rover Sport, Infiniti QX60, Lincoln MKX, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class – were SUVs or crossovers of some kind, too.

Two German cars led the way, however, despite the fact that their December 2013 volume was much lower than their December 2012 volume.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class (sedan and coupe) outsold the BMW 3-Series (sedan and wagon) for just the first time this year. There’ll be a new C-Class next year, and based solely on its exterior style, it’s a winner, though being a winner in the sales standing is a whole ‘nuther subject.

• Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada – 2013 Year End

• All 257 Vehicles Ranked By 2013 Canadian Sales

In addition to the 3er’s 658 December sales, BMW Canada also sold 112 copies of the new 4-Series last month.

Among vehicles with base prices above $50,000, eleven of Canada’s top 15 best sellers in December were SUVs. The passenger car exceptions included the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (and its CLS-Class sibling which has its figures included in the E-Class’s total in Canada), the BMW 5-Series, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class (and its CL-Class coupe offshoot), and the 15th-ranked Porsche 911.

Historical monthly and yearly sales figures for any of these models can always be accessed through the dropdown menu at GCBC’s Sales Stats page, and for those not viewing the mobile version of this site, near the top right of this page, as well. Canada’s favourite luxury vehicles in December 2013 are listed below.

December 2014 • January 2014 • November 2013 • December 2012

Rank	Luxury Vehicle	December 2013	December 2012	% Change	2013	2012	% Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	812	1010	-19.6%	9356	10,616	-11.9%
#2	BMW 3-Series	658	940	-30.0%	12,507	11,234	11.3%
#3	Audi Q5	624	564	10.6%	7547	6152	22.7%
#4	Acura MDX	598	506	18.2%	6114	5242	16.6%
#5	Lexus RX	572	540	5.9%	7789	7130	9.2%
#6	BMW X5	524	172	205%	4704	3975	18.3%
#7	Acura RDX	498	398	25.1%	6112	4726	29.3%
#8	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	457	402	13.7%	4804	5539	-13.3%
#9	Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class	416	562	-26.0%	5979	5279	13.3%
#10	Audi A4 *	412	429	-4.0%	5956	6118	-2.6%
#11	Cadillac ATS	385	72	435%	3256	189	1623%
#12	BMW X1	356	294	21.1%	2910	4776	-39.1%
#13	Mercedes-Benz E-Class & CLS-Class	321	254	26.4%	3359	4083	-17.7%
#14	BMW X3	274	332	-17.5%	5658	5017	12.8%
#15	BMW 5-Series	272	163	66.9%	2717	2727	-0.4%

For the purposes of the above list, premium brands include Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volvo. Brands like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Lotus don’t report specific monthly sales data. Bentley and Maserati only report brand totals. Buick has been excluded with a bunch of other automakers that don’t sell vehicles with base prices higher than $45K.

Rank	Vehicles With Base Prices Above $50K	December 2013	December 2012	% Change	2013	2012	% Change
#1	BMW X5	524	172	205%	4704	3975	18.3%
#2	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	457	402	13.7%	4804	5539	-13.3%
#3	Mercedes-Benz E-Class & CLS-Class	321	254	26.4%	3359	4083	-17.7%
#4	BMW 5-Series	272	163	66.9%	2717	2727	-0.4%
#5	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	246	116	112%	1806	1634	10.5%
#6	Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	180	196	-8.2%	2408	1846	30.4%
#7	Porsche Cayenne	162	143	13.3%	2050	1628	25.9%
#8	Volkswagen Touareg	157	149	5.4%	2087	1975	5.7%
#9	Chevrolet Tahoe	140	85	64.7%	1632	1108	47.3%
#10	Audi Q7	122	122	0.0%	1781	1653	7.7%
#11	GMC Yukon	113	165	-31.5%	1333	1188	12.2%
#12	GMC Yukon XL	106	66	60.6%	1171	1111	5.4%
#13	Mercedes-Benz S-Class & CL-Class	88	63	39.7%	468	715	-34.5%
#14	Chevrolet Suburban	77	71	8.5%	1183	1022	15.8%
#15	Porsche 911	64	25	156%	661	584	13.2%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales
* A4 sales include sales of the unreported Allroad
$50,000 CDN (before delivery) is an arbitrary borderline, but if GCBC was to follow this new system of designating only expensive vehicles as luxury vehicles, $50K seemed like a safe place to begin – it equals the average U.S. new car transaction price plus $15,000, plus another $5000 to account for Canadian increases. Plenty of less expensive vehicles with specific models feature prices above $50,000 – M, RS, and AMG models come to mind, specifically – but in the case of this list, we know that none of the registrations were of cars priced at $35,900, as would be the case with the BMW 320i, which costs less than a Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0T Limited. The biggest problem with a $50,000 minimum price of entry? Cars like the Cadillac XTS, which starts at $48,940, sporty cars like the $49,500 Audi TT, and SUVs like the $49,990 Acura MDX. Volkswagen recently increased the base Touareg’s price to $50,975; GM jacked up the base Tahoe/Yukon price up to $51,580.
Total Infiniti G/Q50/Q60 volume: up 63% to 187 in December; up 1.5% to 3048 in 2013.