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

BMW’s 3-Series outsold its nearest rival, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, by 31,270 units in 2013.

Lexus’s RX slotted in between the German pair with 103,920 sales. All three podium placing cars, in addition to the next-best-selling Lexus ES, Mercedes E-Class, and BMW 5-Series, sold more often in 2013 than they did in 2012.

In all, the list of America’s 15 best-selling premium brand vehicles includes seven utility vehicles, two of which sold less often in 2013 than in 2012. (BMW X5 sales plunged 66% in December, dragging down its calendar year total.) Seven brands are represented in the top 15.

• All 270 Vehicles Ranked By 2013 Year End & December U.S. Sales

Lincoln was the highest-selling premium brand to miss out on landing an individual model on the list of top sellers. Lincoln sold 32,361 MKZs and 23,913 Edge-based MKX crossovers.

There’s perhaps no more obvious omission than Cadillac’s CTS, sales of which tanked in 2013 as we approached the arrival of the all-new, more upscale CTS sedan. The CTS ranked tenth in 2012, behind the Acura MDX; ahead of the BMW X5 and Audi A4 family. Cadillac’s top seller in 2013 was the 15th-ranked ATS, which has, as should’ve been anticipated, a middle-rung player in the entry luxury sports sedan category.

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.

2014 Year End • 2012 Year End • 2011 Year End • 2010 Year End

Rank	Luxury Vehicle	2013	2012	% Change
#1	BMW 3-Series & 4-Series *	119,521	99,602	20.0%
#2	Lexus RX	103,920	95,381	9.0%
#3	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	88,251	81,697	8.0%
#4	Lexus ES	72,581	56,158	29.2%
#5	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	69,803	65,171	7.1%
#6	BMW 5-Series	56,863	56,798	0.1%
#7	Cadillac SRX	56,776	57,485	-1.2%
#8	Acura MDX	53,040	50,854	4.3%
#9	Acura RDX	44,750	29,520	51.6%
#10	Audi A4 *	42,130	38,530	9.3%
#11	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	41,326	38,101	8.5%
#12	Audi Q5	40,355	28,671	40.8%
#13	Infiniti G/Q60 ^	40,062	59,844	-33.1%
#14	BMW X5	39,818	44,445	-10.4%
#15	Cadillac ATS	38,319	7008	447%

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	Luxury Vehicle (Min. Base Price $45K)	2013	2012	% Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	69,803	65,171	7.1%
#2	BMW 5-Series	56,863	56,798	0.1%
#3	Chevrolet Suburban	51,260	48,116	6.5%
#4	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	41,326	38,101	8.5%
#5	BMW X5	39,818	44,445	-10.4%
#6	GMC Yukon XL	31,258	23,427	33.4%
#7	Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	29,912	26,042	14.9%
#8	Lexus GS	19,742	22,160	-10.9%
#9	Cadillac Escalade & ESV/EXT	22,514	22,632	-1.2%
#10	Porsche Cayenne	18,507	15,545	19.1%
#11	Chevrolet Corvette	17,291	14,132	22.4%
#12	Audi Q7	15,978	11,008	45.1%
#13	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	15,976	16,491	-3.1%
#14	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	13,303	11,794	12.8%
#15	Infiniti QX56 / QX80	13,148	15,310	-14.1%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales
$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 $32,550, as would be the case with the new BMW 320i, which costs less than a Honda Accord V6 Touring. The biggest problem with a $45,000 minimum price of entry? Cars like the Cadillac XTS, which starts at $44,075.
^ The lineup formerly known as the Infiniti G was also joined by 17,816 Q50 sales in 2013. 30,256 Infiniti G sedans were sold in 2013.
* BMW USA, not GoodCarBadCar, has chosen to combine sales of the 3-Series and 4-Series. A4 sales include the Allroad. Audi also sold 18,664 A5 coupes and convertibles in 2013.
Cadillac’s new CTS – 32,343 2013 sales – now starts at $45,100, but the lingering CTS Coupe is a sub-$40K car, and the wagon starts at $42,195.