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Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America – August 2015

2015 Audi S6 red
U.S. sales of BMW’s 3-Series jumped 24% in August 2015, a gain of nearly 2000 units which helped the most important BMW fend off a challenge from the outgoing Lexus RX.

U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model – August 2015 YTD

In addition to the 9620 RXs sold by Lexus’s U.S. dealers, Lexus also reported 4448 NX sales. August marked the first occasion that the NX outsold the Acura RDX.

USA luxury brand market share chart August 2015

Among America’s 15 top-selling premium brand vehicles in August, only seven were utility vehicles. That’s down from nine in July and eight in August 2014.

Among vehicles priced above $45,000, GM SUVs were dominant; not only the Escalade but other high-priced volume players from Chevrolet and GMC. Only five members of the latter list hail from the passenger car sector.

Historical monthly and yearly sales figures for any of these top-selling luxury vehicles 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.

August 2016 • September 2015 • July 2015August 2014

Rank
Premium Brand Vehicle
August 2015
August
2014
% Change
2015
YTD
2014
YTD
% Change
#1
BMW 3-Series **
10,163 8197 24.0% 60,675 58,507 3.7%
#2
Lexus RX
9620 11,841 -18.8% 62,163 68,763 -9.6%
#3
Lexus ES
7286 7692 -5.3% 41,767 47,188 -11.5%
#4
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
7154 5151 38.9% 56,875 43,885 29.6%
#5
Cadillac SRX
6903 4545 51.9% 43,863 38,008 15.4%
#6
Audi Q5
5051 3757 34.4% 31,417 26,874 16.9%
#7
Acura MDX
4747 6497 -26.9% 39,144 43,444 -9.9%
#8
Lexus IS
4537 5312 -14.6% 32,237 33,427 -3.6%
#9
Lexus NX
4448 28,834
#10
Acura RDX
4364 3984 9.5% 34,654 29,865 16.0%
#11
Acura TLX
4353 2286 90.4% 30,055 2286 1215%
#12
BMW 5-Series
4012 4468 -10.2% 29,779 37,761 -21.1%
#13
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
4006 6481 -38.2% 31,152 47,725 -34.7%
#14
Infiniti QX60
3995 2600 53.7% 25,533 20,431 25.0%
#15
Infiniti Q50
3839 2655 44.6% 28,046 23,122 21.3%

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 $40K.

Rank
Vehicles With Base Prices Above $45K
August 2015
August
2014
% Change
2015
YTD
2014
YTD
% Change
#1
Chevrolet Tahoe
8221 8216 0.1% 58,609 64,837 -9.6%
#2
Chevrolet Suburban
4499 5748 -21.7% 32,194 34,487 -6.6%
#3
GMC Yukon
4493 4715 -4.7% 26,048 27,458 -5.1%
#4
BMW 5-Series
4012 4468 -10.2% 29,779 37,761 -21.1%
#5
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
4006 6481 -38.2% 31,152 47,725 -34.7%
#6
Ford Expedition ˆ
3401 2623 29.7% 26,994 29,093 -7.2%
#7
Cadillac Escalade
3080 3535 -12.9% 22,323 17,774 24.8%

Cadillac Escalade *
1770 2277 -22.3% 13,349 11,415 16.9%

Cadillac Escalade ESV *
1310 1257 4.2% 8972 6419 39.8%

Cadillac Escalade EXT *
1 -100% 2 50 -96.0%
#8
BMW X5
2803 3497 -19.8% 37,965 28,623 32.6%
#9
Chevrolet Corvette
2725 2679 1.7% 23,826 23,483 1.5%
#10
Mercedes-Benz M-Class °
2679 3438 -22.1% 29,490 28,654 2.9%
#11
Lexus GX
2221 2198 1.0% 16,249 14,429 12.6%
#12
Mercedes-Benz GL-Class
2188 2208 -0.9% 16,881 15,574 8.4%
#13
GMC Yukon XL
2175 3319 -34.5% 17,912 19,763 -9.4%
#14
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
2044 1855 10.2% 14,038 15,006 -6.5%
#15
Audi A6
2022 1927 4.9% 15,359 15,657 -1.9%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
* Escalade breakdown by variant
ˆ Ford recently bumped the Expedition’s base price just above the $45K mark.
° Mercedes-Benz also sold 1802 copies of the M’s renamed successor, the GLE. 
** BMW USA was choosing to combine sales figures of the 3-Series & 4-Series but gave that action up in June.
$45,000 USD (before delivery) is an arbitrary borderline, but if GCBC was to follow this system of designating only expensive vehicles as luxury vehicles, adding approximately $15,000 to the average new car transaction price seemed like a fitting place to begin. Plenty of less expensive vehicles with specific models feature prices above $45,000 – M, RS, and AMG models come to mind, specifically – but in the case of the second list, we know that none of the registrations were of cars priced at $32,750, as would be the case with the new BMW 320i, which costs less than a Honda Accord V6 Touring. 

RECOMMENDED READING
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America – August 2016
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America – September 2015
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America – July 2015
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America – August 2014