Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2016 Year End

Automotive

The Lexus RX was America's most popular premium brand automobile in 2016, and it secured Lexus the victory by a hefty margin.

---

U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - 2016 Year End

---

After outselling the BMW 3-Series by merely 6070 units in 2015, the 3-Series plunged, the new challenger from Mercedes-Benz also took a dive, and Lexus RX sales jumped 9%. In 2016, the RX finished the year with 109,435 sales, 32,268 more than the second-ranked C-Class; 53,940 sales ahead of the next-best-selling premium utility vehicle.

Click Chart To Expand

The Lexus brand was America's second-ranked premium brand. Mercedes-Benz reported 340,237 total sales with its premium division, Sprinter and Metris vans excluded. Lexus sales fell 4% to 331,228 units. BMW reported 313,174 sales, a 10% year-ver-year decline.

Among the 15 top-selling luxury vehicles in America in 2016, 10 were SUVs/crossovers. Likewise, among the 15 top-selling $50,000+ vehicles in America in 2016, 10 were SUVs/crossovers.

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.

2015 Year End • 2014 Year End • 2013 Year End

Rank	Premium Brand Vehicle	2016	2015	%  Change
#1	Lexus RX	109,435	100,610	8.8%
#2	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	77,167	86,080	-10.4%
#3	BMW 3-Series	70,458	94,540	-25.5%
#4	Lexus ES	58,299	64,969	-10.3%
#5	Acura MDX	55,495	58,208	-4.7%
#6	Lexus NX	54,884	43,764	25.4%
#7	Acura RDX	52,361	51,026	2.6%
#8	Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class & M-Class	51,791	53,217	-2.7%
#9	Mercedes-Benz E-Class & CLS-Class	50,896	55,888	-8.9%
#10	Audi Q5	49,550	52,006	-4.7%
#11	Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class & GLK-Class	47,872	27,902	71.6%
#12	BMW X5	47,641	54,997	-13.4%
#13	BMW X3	44,196	31,924	38.4%
#14	Infiniti Q50	44,007	43,874	0.3%
#15	Infiniti QX60	42,120	41,770	0.8%

For the purposes of the above list, premium brands include Acura, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volvo. Brands like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Lotus don't report specific monthly sales data. 

Rank	Vehicles With Base  Prices Above $50,000	2016	2015	%  Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class & M-Class	51,791	53,217	-2.7%
#2	Mercedes-Benz E-Class/CLS-Class	50,896	55,888	-8.9%
#3	BMW X5	47,641	54,997	-13.4%
#4	Cadillac Escalade	39,092	35,921	8.8%
	Cadillac Escalade *	23,604	21,230	11.2%
	Cadillac Escalade ESV *	15,488	14,691	5.4%
#5	GMC Yukon XL	37,054	31,334	18.3%
#6	BMW 5-Series	32,408	44,162	-26.6%
#7	Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class GL-Class	30,442	27,707	9.9%
#8	Chevrolet Corvette	29,995	33,329	-10.0%
#9	Lexus GX	25,148	25,212	-0.3%
#10	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	21,612	21,459	0.7%
#11	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	18,803	21,936	-14.3%
#12	Infiniti QX80	16,772	15,646	7.2%
#13	Land Rover Range Rover	16,155	17,821	-9.3%
#14	Porsche Cayenne	15,383	16,473	-6.6%
#15	BMW 7-Series	12,918	9,292	39.0%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
$50,000 USD (before delivery) is an arbitrary borderline, upgraded in 2016 from $45K last year by $5K, but if GCBC was to follow this system of designating only expensive vehicles as luxury vehicles, adding approximately $20,000 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 $50,000 - 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 below that borderline.

RECOMMENDED READING
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2015 Year End
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - December 2016
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - 2016 Year End

Automotive