Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - December 2016

Automotive

The Lexus RX, Cadillac XT5, and Lexus NX were America's three best-selling premium brand vehicles in December 2016, the RX holding on to a title it claimed on a calendar year basis, as well. 

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Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2016 Year End
U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - 2016 Year End

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Indeed, it was a dominant victory for the RX in the final month of 2016. The XT5 and NX, the second and third-ranked luxury autos in America, combined for 14,811 sales. The Lexus RX earned 14,882 sales, 71 more than the trailing duo combined. But of course, the more telling fact coming from a look at the podium revolves around the type of vehicle present: America's best-selling luxury car was America's fourth-best-selling luxury vehicle in December.

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Mercedes-Benz C-Class sales were on the rise, however, climbing 5% to 7345 units in December after decreases in 10 of the previous 11 months.

On this list of America's 15 top-selling luxury vehicles, the C-Class leads a group of only four passenger cars.

On December's list of the 15 best-selling $50,000+ vehicles, there are only six cars. Each of the four leaders are SUVs/crossovers of one kind or another.

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. Mobile users can now thumb across the tables for full-width access.

January 2017 • November 2016 • December 2015

Rank	Premium Brand Vehicle	Dec.  2016	Dec. 2015	%  Change	2016	2015	%  Change
#1	Lexus RX	14,882	11,899	25.1%	109,435	100,610	8.8%
#2	Cadillac XT5	7,436	---	---	39,485	---	---
#3	Lexus NX	7,375	5,134	43.7%	54,884	43,764	25.4%
#4	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	7,345	7,023	4.6%	77,167	86,080	-10.4%
#5	BMW 3-Series	6,740	5,262	28.1%	70,458	94,540	-25.5%
#6	Audi Q5	6,396	6,057	5.6%	49,550	52,006	-4.7%
#7	BMW X5	6,245	6,250	-0.1%	47,641	54,997	-13.4%
#8	Acura MDX	6,243	6,254	-0.2%	55,495	58,208	-4.7%
#9	Lexus ES	6,239	7,856	-20.6%	58,299	64,969	-10.3%
#10	Acura RDX	5,945	4,942	20.3%	52,361	51,026	2.6%
#11	Infiniti Q50	5,794	4,678	23.9%	44,007	43,874	0.3%
#12	Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class & M-Class	5,574	6,640	-16.1%	51,791	53,217	-2.7%
#13	Cadillac Escalade	5,472	4,659	17.5%	39,092	35,923	8.8%
	Cadillac Escalade *	3,388	2,743	23.5%	23,604	21,230	11.2%
	Cadillac Escalade ESV *	2,084	1,916	8.8%	15,488	14,691	5.4%
#14	BMW X3	4,978	3,126	59.2%	44,196	31,924	38.4%
#15	Infiniti QX60	4,928	4,987	-1.2%	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 $50K	Dec.  2016	Dec. 2015	%  Change	2016	2015	%  Change
#1	BMW X5	6,245	6,250	-0.1%	47,641	54,997	-13.4%
#2	GMC Yukon XL	5,856	4,536	29.1%	37,054	31,334	18.3%
#3	Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class & M-Class	5,574	6,640	-16.1%	51,791	53,217	-2.7%
#4	Cadillac Escalade	5,472	4,659	17.5%	39,092	35,921	8.8%
	Cadillac Escalade *	3,388	2,743	23.5%	23,604	21,230	11.2%
	Cadillac Escalade ESV *	2,084	1,916	8.8%	15,488	14,691	5.4%
#5	Mercedes-Benz E-Class/CLS-Class	4,851	5,580	-13.1%	50,896	55,888	-8.9%
#6	Lexus GX	3,474	3,118	11.4%	25,148	25,212	-0.3%
#7	Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class GL-Class	3,262	2,849	14.5%	30,442	27,707	9.9%
#8	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	2,802	2,246	24.8%	21,612	21,459	0.7%
#9	Chevrolet Corvette	2,709	2,453	10.4%	29,995	33,329	-10.0%
#10	Land Rover Range Rover	2,165	1,835	18.0%	16,155	17,821	-9.3%
#11	BMW 5-Series	2,115	2,985	-29.1%	32,408	44,162	-26.6%
#12	Infiniti QX80	2,026	2,171	-6.7%	16,772	15,646	7.2%
#13	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	1,494	2,163	-30.9%	18,803	21,936	-14.3%
#14	BMW 7-Series	1,313	1,266	3.7%	12,918	9,292	39.0%
#15	Cadillac CT6	1,293	---	---	9,169	---	---

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.

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Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - January 2017
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - November 2016
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - December 2015

Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2016
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America - December 2016
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - December 2016

Automotive