Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America – March 2014

In March 2014, five of America’s 15 best-selling premium brand vehicles were BMWs, including the 10th, 11th, and 12th-ranked vehicles, the X3, X1, and X5. BMW also sells an X6, sales of which slid 9% to 372 units, and will soon sell an X4.

• All Makes & Models Ranked By March 2014 YTD U.S. Sales

Those BMWs were joined by a Lexus trio, including the top-ranked premium utility vehicle, the RX, sales of which jumped 10% in March. There’s just the one Cadillac and one Lincoln to go along with two Acura crossovers and three Benzes.

You’ll find no Mercedes-Benz CLA here. Only 1725 were sold in the United States in March. CLA volume has fallen in five consecutive months on a month-to-month basis. (The CLA hasn’t been on sale long enough for year-over-year comparisons.) When 4895 CLAs were sold in its first full month on sale, expectations perhaps rose to unreasonable levels. The CLA ranked ninth on this list that month.

GCBC has a second list in this post where you’ll see the rankings for vehicles which, at their entry point, are priced beyond $45,000. That list is led by the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, sales of which jumped 58% last month.

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.

March 2015 • April 2014 • February 2014 • March 2013

Rank	Luxury Vehicle	March 2014	March 2013	% Change	2014 YTD	2013 YTD	% Change
#1	BMW 3-Series & 4-Series *	10,120	8858	14.2%	24,405	20,662	18.1%
#2	Lexus RX	9943	9072	9.6%	21,232	21,404	-0.8%
#3	Lexus ES	6784	6798	-0.2%	15,103	16,801	-10.1%
#4	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	6335	4009	58.0%	15,872	13,689	15.9%
#5	Acura MDX	5793	3207	80.6%	14,597	8728	67.2%
#6	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	5660	8396	-32.6%	17,029	22,912	-25.7%
#7	Cadillac SRX	5399	4368	23.6%	14,903	12,856	15.9%
#8	Lexus IS	4893	2255	117%	11,458	5173	121%
#9	Acura RDX	4580	3875	18.2%	10,221	9159	11.6%
#10	BMW X3	4430	3031	46.2%	10,430	7211	44.6%
#11	BMW X1	4307	2764	55.8%	7968	5411	47.3%
#12	BMW X5	4094	3876	5.6%	9760	11,891	-17.9%
T13	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	4052	3501	15.7%	10,134	9162	10.6%
T13	Lincoln MKZ	4052	2360	71.7%	9218	3758	145%
#15	BMW 5-Series	3865	5306	-27.2%	10,952	12,139	-9.8%

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, Tesla, 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	March 2014	March 2013	% Change	2014 YTD	2013 YTD	% Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	6335	4009	58.0%	15,872	13,689	15.9%
#2	BMW X5	4094	3876	5.6%	9760	11,891	-17.9%
#3	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	4052	3501	15.7%	10,134	9162	10.6%
#4	BMW 5-Series	3865	5306	-27.2%	10,952	12,139	-9.8%
#5	Chevrolet Corvette	3480	1053	230%	8179	2941	178%
#6	GMC Yukon	3280	2655	23.5%	6516	6917	-5.8%
#7	BMW 6-Series	3063	877	249%	4127	2071	99.3%
#8	Chevrolet Suburban	2984	3378	-11.7%	6724	9415	-28.6%
#9	Lexus GS	2484	1882	32.0%	5358	4089	31.0%
#10	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	2299	1216	89.1%	5369	3077	74.5%
#11	Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	2133	2803	-23.9%	5418	7618	-28.9%
#12	Lexus GX460	1874	770	143%	4907	2131	130%
#13	Porsche Cayenne	1862	1508	23.5%	4280	4181	2.4%
#14	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	1747	1386	26.0%	4823	3898	23.7%
#15	GMC Yukon XL	1704	2293	-25.7%	3679	5065	-27.4%

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 $32,750, 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 $44,600, and SUVs like the Chevrolet Tahoe, which also starts at $44,600.
^ In March, Infiniti sold 2001 copies of the Q50’s predecessor, the G sedan, and 594 Q60s and 3795 Q50s.
^ Regular-wheelbase Escalade, the best-selling Escalade, found 743 buyers in March.
* BMW USA, not GoodCarBadCar, has chosen to combine sales of the 3-Series and 4-Series.
Cadillac’s new CTS – 2918 March sales – starts at $45,100, but the lingering CTS Coupe is a sub-$40K car, and the wagon starts at $42,195.

Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America – March 2014
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America – March 2014
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings – March 2014 YTD