Small And Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - December 2016 & 2016 Year End

Automotive

The rapid turn away from luxury cars represented half the story in the Canadian luxury auto sphere in 2016, as the turn away from cars was compensated for by a turn toward the same automakers' premium utility vehicles.

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Canada Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - 2016 Year End
Canada Car Sales Rankings By Model - 2016 Year End

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And yet at the top of the heap, there were notable exceptions to the rule. Because of increases in each of the last eight months of the year, Mercedes-Benz C-Class sales were essentially flat in 2016. The C-Class is Canada's top-selling individual premium nameplate. Meanwhile, the Audi A4, launched in an all-new generation in 2016 and regarded highly by GCBC, jumped 10% because of inceases in each of the final eight months of 2016. 

Yet joining the C-Class and A4 were other sharply declining luxury nameplates. The Infiniti Q50 slid 10%, the Lexus IS was down 11%, Acura TLX sales tumbled 19% in 2016, BMW 3-Series sales slid 22%, and Cadillac ATS sales fell 32%.

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Up a notch in size and price, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class fell 7%, the Audi A6 was down 16%, Infiniti Q70 volume fell 28%, and Acura RLX sales were down 41%. Among others.

Automakers are still introducing new luxury cars. Indeed, Hyundai launched a new luxury brand, Genesis, by turning the second-generation Hyundai Genesis into the Genesis G80 and launching the second-generation Hyundai Equus as the Genesis G90. 

The Alfa Romeo Giulia lands soon. Jaguar is back in the entry-lux game with the XE. Lincoln replaced the MKS with the new Continental; Volvo killed the S80 in favour of the new S90.

You can click any model name in the tables below to find historical monthly and yearly Canadian auto sales data. You can also select a make and model at GCBC's Sales Stats page. These tables are now sortable, so you can rank luxury cars any which way you like. Mobile users can now thumb across the tables for full-width access. Suggestions on how GCBC should break down segments can be passed on through the Contact page.

Click Column Headers To Sort • January 2017 • November 2016 • December 2015

Small/Entry  Luxury Car	Dec. 2016	Dec. 2015	% Change	2016	2015	% Change
Acura ILX *	187	267	-30.0%	2459	2551	-3.6%
Acura TLX	307	337	-8.9%	4137	5075	-18.5%
Audi A3	262	293	-10.6%	3795	3788	0.2%
Audi A4  ^	376	357	5.3%	6031	5461	10.4%
Audi A5 *	70	78	-10.3%	1516	1693	-10.5%
BMW 1-Series	---	---	---	---	3	-100%
BMW 2-Series *	55	174	-68.4%	2091	1703	22.8%
BMW 3-Series	367	459	-20.0%	7452	9590	-22.3%
BMW 4-Series	386	311	24.1%	4765	4942	-3.6%
Cadillac ATS	184	392	-53.1%	2375	3493	-32.0%
Infiniti Q50	264	280	-5.7%	2969	3295	-9.9%
Infiniti Q60 *	53	9	489%	422	408	3.4%
Jaguar XE	45	---	---	358	---	----
Lexus CT200h	29	35	-17.1%	546	814	-32.9%
Lexus IS	147	214	-31.3%	3033	3401	-10.8%
Lexus RC	26	27	-3.7%	526	792	-33.6%
Mercedes-Benz B-Class *	162	169	-4.1%	2461	2356	4.5%
Mercedes-Benz C-Class	853	621	37.4%	9954	9992	-0.4%
Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class	213	213	0.0%	4150	3870	7.2%
Volvo S60	20	45	-55.6%	657	665	-1.2%
Volvo V60	64	58	10.3%	627	1032	-39.2%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	4070	4339	-6.2%	60,324	64,924	-7.1%

Midsize Luxury Car	Dec. 2016	Dec. 2015	% Change	2016	2015	% Change
Acura RLX	12	7	71.4%	107	182	-41.2%
Audi A6	40	82	-51.2%	834	990	-15.8%
Audi A7	61	65	-6.2%	887	787	12.7%
BMW 5-Series	194	225	-13.8%	2019	1996	1.2%
Cadillac CT6	37	---	---	250	---	---
Cadillac CTS	110	154	-28.6%	880	921	-4.5%
Cadillac XTS ‡	87	148	-41.2%	707	839	-15.7%
Genesis G80	24	---	---	55	---	---
Genesis G90	24	---	---	38	---	---
Hyundai Equus ‡	---	1	-100%	9	37	-75.7%
Hyundai Genesis ‡*	1	70	-98.6%	961	1377	-30.2%
Infiniti Q70	15	22	-31.8%	156	217	-28.1%
Jaguar XF	35	8	337%	542	466	16.3%
Kia K900 ‡	---	5	-100%	26	36	-27.8%
Lexus ES	215	166	29.5%	2153	2305	-6.6%
Lexus GS	27	28	-3.6%	415	390	6.4%
Lincoln Continental	49	---	---	174	---	---
Lincoln MKS	1	7	-85.7%	198	172	15.1%
Lincoln MKZ	73	92	-20.7%	1120	1130	-0.9%
Maserati Ghibli	25	39	-35.9%	318	364	-12.6%
Mercedes-Benz  E-Class & CLS-Class *^	153	256	-40.2%	2953	3162	-6.6%
Volvo S80	---	---	---	23	62	-62.9%
Volvo S90	14	---	---	101	---	---
Volvo XC70 *	---	32	-100%	218	426	-48.8%
---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Total	1124	1407	-20.1%	15,144	15,859	-4.5%

Source: Automakers & Global Automakers Of Canada
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 XC70 listed with luxury SUVs and the Acura ILX with mainstream cars... because readers have wanted it both ways. You can always find the sales results for EVERY vehicle and form your own competitive sets by using the All Vehicle Rankings posts.
^ Mercedes-Benz's Canadian sales figures combine the E-Class with the CLS-Class. Audi Canada's A4 sales figures include sales of the Allroad.
‡ The XTS, K900, CT6 Continental, and Equus aren't listed here because they're not massive - they are - but because their price points position them much more closely to, for example, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class than the S-Class. Genesis sales figures here do not include sales of the Genesis Coupe (as Hyundai's U.S. Genesis sales figures do), making the comparison with premium brand vehicles much more valid.

RECOMMENDED READING
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - January 2017
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - November 2016
Small & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - December 2015
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In Canada - December 2016
Canada Auto Sales Brand Rankings - December 2016 & Year End
Large Luxury Car Sales In Canada - December & 2016 Year End

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