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

Lexus, which may have outsold all premium brands in America in calendar year 2015, fended off challenges by BMW and Mercedes-Benz despite falling 3% in March 2016. The premium sector's declines would be hugely worrisome if not for the gains reported by many SUVs and crossovers. 

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U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - March 2016 YTD

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Leading cars from Mercedes-Benz and BMW fell 15% and 30% in the first-quarter of 2016, losses equal to 9224 sales for the C-Class and 3-Series.

Fortunately, U.S. sales of the Mercedes-Benz GLC (the GLK's replacement) surged 94% in 2016's first three months while BMW X3 volume jumped 70%, gains worth 9546 additional sales for Mercedes-Benz and BMW dealers. 

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The GLC and X3 ranked seventh and 11th among premium brand autos in March 2016, claiming two of the top 15's nine spots reserved by utility vehicles.

Among vehicles with base prices above $50,000, 11 of the top 15 most popular vehicles in America in March 2016 were SUVs and crossovers. Not a single one ff the four cars on the list posted improved sales this March – six of the 11 SUVs did so.

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.

April 2016 • February 2016 • March 2015

Rank	Premium Brand Vehicle	March 2016	March 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
#1	Lexus RX	9648	9177	5.1%	23,796	22,236	7.0%
#2	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	6658	7635	-12.8%	17,839	20,943	-14.8%
#3	BMW 3-Series	6218	9473	-34.4%	14,100	20,220	-30.3%
#4	Lexus ES	5792	5773	0.3%	13,018	14,045	-7.3%
#5	Infiniti Q50	5590	3901	43.3%	11,868	10,516	12.9%
#6	Acura RDX	5310	3963	34.0%	12,212	11,342	7.7%
#7	Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class & GLK-Class	4871	2478	96.6%	10,998	5657	94.4%
#8	Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class & M-Class	4730	4023	17.6%	12,341	10,483	17.7%
#9	BMW 4-Series	4710	5362	-12.2%	9225	10,711	-13.9%
#10	Lexus NX	4533	3633	24.8%	11,375	9111	24.8%
#11	BMW X3	4476	1541	190%	10,211	6006	70.0%
#12	Acura MDX	4088	5503	-25.7%	11,956	14,437	-17.2%
#13	Cadillac SRX	4071	5000	-18.6%	12,866	12,294	4.7%
#14	Infiniti QX60	3905	3243	20.4%	9007	8805	2.3%
#15	Acura TLX	3768	3430	9.9%	9087	9741	-6.7%

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, 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 $50K	March 2016	March 2015	% Change	2016 YTD	2015 YTD	% Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class & M-Class	4730	4023	17.6%	12,341	10,483	17.7%
#2	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	3695	4489	-17.7%	8560	11,234	-23.8%
#3	BMW X5	3617	4388	-17.6%	10,043	11,751	-14.5%
#4	Cadillac Escalade	3238	2758	17.4%	8107	7899	2.6%
	Cadillac Escalade *	1974	1673	18.0%	5021	4826	4.0%
	Cadillac Escalade ESV *	1264	1085	16.5%	3086	3073	0.4%
#5	BMW 5-Series	3157	5100	-38.1%	9710	12,065	-19.5%
#6	Audi Q7	3004	1560	92.6%	6993	3452	103%
#7	Chevrolet Corvette	2753	3785	-27.3%	6370	8517	-25.2%
#8	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	2507	2646	-5.3%	5552	6225	-10.8%
#9	GMC Yukon XL	2427	1977	22.8%	6702	5990	11.9%
#10	Lexus GX460	1961	2024	-3.1%	5219	5480	-4.8%
#11	Land Rover Range Rover	1792	1996	-10.2%	4805	4835	-0.6%
#12	Land Rover LR4	1569	841	86.6%	3462	2065	67.7%
#13	Infiniti QX80	1403	1416	-0.9%	4054	4247	-4.5%
#14	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	1332	2098	-36.5%	4167	5096	-18.2%
#15	Lincoln Navigator	1311	1097	19.5%	2968	2875	3.2%

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 $25,000 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 - April 2016
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - February 2016
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - March 2015
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - March 2016
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America - March 2016
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - March 2016 YTD