Small Luxury SUV Sales And Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada – September 2011

BMW sold 1426 utility vehicles in Canada in September 2011. That’s up 122% from September 2010. The increase could easily (but incorrectly) be wholly attributed to the addition of another member of the SAV fleet, the new X1. But that would ignore the fact that BMW’s three other utility vehicles posted significant year-over-year gains. One-third of those SAVs sales were made up by the company’s $61,800-$98,300 X5, sales of which jumped 69% in September.

The X3 (up 38% last month) can be viewed in the chart at the bottom of this post. BMW’s X6, not The Good Car Guy’s favourite vehicle by any stretch of the imagination, was up 3%, or three units, in September. Year-to-date sales of the X6 are up 6% compared with the first three quarters of 2010.

Though much improved, the X5’s sales volume doesn’t match what Lexus can do with the $44,950-$59,700 RX350/RX450h. Despite sales which fell 14%, the RX still found 623 Canadian buyers in September. Leading the pack, Acura MDX sales shot up 40% to 733. Acura Canada is currently advertising 0.25% lease rates on 25-month leases and 25 months of complimentary maintenance on 2012 Acuras. The MDX starts at $52,690.

Back on the subject of Lexus, it’s worth noting that much of the company’s lost RX sales volume is not the fault of the regular RX350. The RX450h is down 39% this year, a decline of 324 units through nine months. In September, RX450h sales plunged 54%. The non-hybrid RX350 was down 7%, or 45 units.

CLICK EITHER CHART FOR LARGER VIEW

Now return to the subject of BMW, September’s top-ranked luxury brand. X3 sales were up 38%, as you already read, accounting for 12.5% of all BMW Canada volume. Between New Year’s Day and the end of September the X3 was responsible for 15.1% of all BMW Canada sales. The X1 was BMW’s most popular utility vehicle in September 2011, however. With 486 sales, the X1’s share of Canada’s BMW appetite was 17.2%. That made the X1, a vehicle not for sale in America, BMW Canada’s second most popular model overall, though the 3-Series (down 40% in September) was more than twice as popular.

486 sales also made the X1 Canada’s best-selling small luxury utility vehicle. (Some would say the RX belongs in this chart, and if it was included here, it would obviously be the victor.) Mercedes-Benz GLK sales slid 14% in September. The Audi Q5 was just two sales away from declaring a doubling of sales. 99% gains are nothing to be embarrassed about – the Q5 was up from 219 sales in September 2010 to 436 sales last month. Q5 sales are up 44% to 3553 year-to-date.