Small And Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America – February 2016 YTD

Car sales are falling.

The U.S. auto industry set sales records in calendar year 2015, but the record-setting volume wasn’t powered by passenger cars. Instead, pickup trucks and SUVs/crossovers powered the auto industry to record-setting volume.

U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model – February 2016 YTD
U.S. Car Sales Rankings By Model – February 2016 YTD

As a follow-up to the record-setting year of 2015, U.S. auto sales are up 3.4% and surged by nearly 7% to the best February since 2001 last month. But again, traditional cars simply aren’t the reason for growth. More specifically, luxury cars are particularly worthy of blame. Car volume is down 4.3% this year; down 0.4% in February. But premium brand passenger car volume tumbled 14.5% in February and plunged 17.2% in 2016’s first two months.

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Rare is the entry level luxury car that isn’t selling less often – way less often –  in 2016 than in 2015. From the top sellers, Mercedes-Benz’s C-Class and BMW’s 3-Series, through to niche models like the BMW i3 and Lexus CT200h , on to mid-tier players such as the Audi A3 and Lexus IS, almost everything is falling. 

Move up a class and the story is much the same: Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5-Series, Audi A6? Down. 

Through the first two months of 2015, 13.5% of the passenger cars sold in America were sold by premium auto brands. Their market share is down to 11.7% in 2016.

You can click any model name in the tables below to find historical monthly and yearly U.S. auto sales data. You can also select a make and model at GCBC’s Sales Stats page. These tables are sortable, so you can rank luxury brand cars any which way you like. Suggestions on how GCBC should break down segments can be passed on through the Contact page.

Click Column Headers To Sort • February 2017 • March 2016 • January 2016 • February 2015

Small/Entry  Luxury Car	February 2016	February 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
Acura ILX *	1500	959	56.4%	2733	1951	40.1%
Acura TLX	3080	3419	-9.9%	5319	6311	-15.7%
Acura TSX	—	4	-100%	—	10	-100%
Audi A3	2183	2279	-4.2%	4331	4662	-7.1%
Audi A4  ^	1951	1924	1.4%	3425	3714	-7.8%
Audi A5 *	602	831	-27.6%	1117	1674	-33.3%
BMW 2-Series *	1085	523	107%	1795	898	99.9%
BMW 3-Series	4595	6004	-23.5%	7882	10,747	-26.7%
BMW 4-Series	2683	2744	-2.2%	4515	5349	-15.6%
BMW i3	248	1089	-77.2%	430	1759	-75.6%
Cadillac ATS	1591	2028	-21.5%	2658	3785	-29.8%
Infiniti Q40	16	1643	-99.0%	26	2672	-99.0%
Infiniti Q50	3364	3649	-7.8%	6278	6615	-5.1%
Infiniti Q60 *	172	346	-50.3%	304	812	-62.6%
Lexus CT200h	762	978	-22.1%	1384	1983	-30.2%
Lexus IS	2961	3383	-12.5%	5139	6758	-24.0%
Lexus RC	920	984	-6.5%	1675	1831	-8.5%
Mercedes-Benz B-Class *	37	109	-66.1%	95	349	-72.8%
Mercedes-Benz C-Class	6102	7072	-13.7%	11,181	13,308	-16.0%
Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class	1474	2606	-43.4%	4642	5097	-8.9%
Volvo S60	823	1203	-31.6%	1278	2574	-50.3%
Volvo S60 Cross Country	42	—	—	80	—	—
Volvo V60	252	339	-25.7%	399	631	-36.8%
Volvo V60 Cross Country	154	70	120%	230	98	135%
—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total	36,597	44,186	-17.2%	66,916	83,588	-19.9%

Midsize Luxury Car	February 2016	February 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
Acura RLX	103	173	-40.5%	201	349	-42.4%
Acura TL	—	22	-100%	—	40	-100%
Audi A6	1064	1282	-17.0%	1905	2484	-23.3%
Audi A7	429	229	87.3%	861	514	67.5%
BMW 5-Series	2758	3606	-23.5%	6553	6965	-5.9%
Cadillac CTS	1461	1438	1.6%	2474	3136	-21.1%
Cadillac XTS	1813	1960	-7.5%	3626	3842	-5.6%
Hyundai Equus	286	207	38.2%	457	427	7.0%
Infiniti Q70	494	707	-30.1%	986	1334	-26.1%
Jaguar XF	790	703	12.4%	1516	1347	12.5%
Kia K900	83	62	33.9%	151	181	-16.6%
Lexus ES	3826	4192	-8.7%	7226	8272	-12.6%
Lexus GS	1167	1851	-37.0%	2465	3530	-30.2%
Lincoln MKS	599	559	7.2%	1137	1204	-5.6%
Lincoln MKZ	2128	1834	16.0%	4074	3664	11.2%
Mercedes-Benz E-Class & CLS-Class °	2700	2752	-1.9%	5490	7494	-26.7%
Volvo S80	43	70	-38.6%	84	282	-70.2%
Volvo XC70 *	287	316	-9.2%	539	646	-16.6%
—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total	17,903	21,963	-18.5%	39,745	45,711	-13.1%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
* vehicle also displayed in another GCBC segment breakdown
^ A4 includes Allroad, without which A4 sales were up 4.8% to 1827 in February; down 4.7% to 3152 YTD.
° Mercedes-Benz USA began combining E-Class and CLS-Class sales with their February report.
GCBC isn’t here to break down segments, an impossible task for any group, but to display sales data for the sake of comparison. The more ways sales data can be displayed, the better. This explains why you’ll see the Acura ILX here but also with mainstream cars like the Buick Verano, too, and the Audi A5 is also displayed with coupes and convertibles… because readers have wanted it both ways. Hyundai USA, not GoodCarBadCar, chooses to combine sales figures for the Genesis sedan and Genesis Coupe, forcing us to include the Genesis with volume-brand cars on pricing grounds before we even get to the “brand status” issue. The K900, Equus, and XTS are here not because of their size but because of their price points, their lack of direct comparability with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. You can always find the sales results for EVERY vehicle and form your own competitive sets by using the All Vehicle Rankings posts.

RECOMMENDED READING
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America – February 2017
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America – March 2016 YTD
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America – January 2016
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America – February 2015
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America – February 2016
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings – February 2016
Large Luxury Car Sales In America – February 2016 YTD