Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - April 2014

As March goes, so goes April. In the fourth month of 2014, as in the third, fully eight of the 15 best-selling premium auto brand vehicles were SUVs or crossovers of one kind or another. 

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Premium SUVs and crossovers are led by the Lexus RX. The Lexus, soon to be joined by a smaller NX which carries much lower sales expectations, outsold the surging Acura MDX by nearly 3000 units in April 2014 and the healthy Cadillac SRX by 3583 units. 

They were joined in the top 15 by the BMW X5, Acura RDX, Mercedes-Benz ML, BMW X3, and Audi Q5. 

While three of the seven top premium brand passenger cars sold less often this April than in April 2013, the same can't be said for any of the top eight utility vehicles.

BMW's 3-Series, including its 4-Series offshoot, was the leading premium brand nameplate in April 2014. April marked the eighth consecutive month atop the luxury leaderboard for the BMW, sales of which are up 18% this year. Overall, the 3-Series/4-Series tandem finished 20th among passenger cars in April. There were three other BMWs in the top 15, including the X3, sales of which grew at a faster clip than any other top seller in April.

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• Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - May 2014
• Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - March 2014
• Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - April 2013

• Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - April 2014
• All 255 Autos Ranked By April 2014 YTD U.S. Sales
• Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America - April 2014
• U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - April 2014 YTD

• Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - April 2014

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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.

May 2014 • March 2014 • April 2013

Rank	Luxury Vehicle	April 2014	April 2013	% Change	2014 YTD	2013 YTD	% Change
#1	BMW 3-Series/4-Series *	9794	8236	18.9%	34,199	28,898	18.3%
#2	Lexus RX	8130	7053	15.3%	29,362	28,457	3.2%
#3	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	6056	4431	36.7%	21,928	18,120	21.0%
#4	Lexus ES	6036	5122	17.8%	21,139	21,923	-3.6%
#5	Acura MDX	5180	2877	80.0%	19,777	11,605	70.4%
#6	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	5114	7338	-30.3%	22,143	30,250	-26.8%
#7	Cadillac SRX	4547	3478	30.7%	19,450	16,334	19.1%
#8	BMW X5	4393	3444	27.6%	14,153	15,335	-7.7%
#9	Acura RDX	4344	4088	6.3%	14,565	13,247	9.9%
#10	BMW 5-Series	3973	5234	-24.1%	14,925	17,373	-14.1%
#11	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	3831	3280	16.8%	13,965	12,442	12.2%
#12	Lexus IS	3780	1797	110%	15,238	6970	119%
#13	BMW X3	3544	1914	85.2%	13,974	9125	53.1%
#14	Audi A4 *	3516	3611	-2.6%	12,203	13,406	-9.0%
#15	Audi Q5	3293	3241	1.6%	12,067	11,437	5.5%

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 $45K	April 2014	April 2013	% Change	2014 YTD	2013 YTD	% Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	6056	4431	36.7%	21,928	18,120	21.0%
#2	Chevrolet Suburban	4840	3682	31.5%	11,564	13,097	-11.7%
#3	BMW X5	4393	3444	27.6%	14,153	15,335	-7.7%
#4	BMW 5-Series	3973	5234	-24.1%	14,925	17,373	-14.1%
#5	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	3831	3280	16.8%	13,965	12,442	12.2%
#6	GMC Yukon	3733	1577	138%	10,249	8494	20.7%
#7	Chevrolet Corvette	3514	974	261%	11,693	3915	199%
#8	GMC Yukon XL	2506	2752	-8.9%	6185	7817	-20.9%
#9	Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	2253	2481	-9.2%	7671	10,099	-24.0%
#10	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	2006	1305	53.7%	6829	5203	31.3%
#11	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	1909	1103	73.1%	7278	4180	74.1%
#12	Porsche Cayenne	1839	1750	5.1%	6119	5931	3.2%
#13	Lexus GX460	1639	655	150%	6546	2786	135%
#14	Lexus GS	1500	1236	21.4%	6858	5325	28.8%
#15	Audi Q7	1462	1183	23.6%	5551	4084	35.9%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales
$45,000 USD (before delivery) is an arbitrary borderline, but if GCBC was to follow this system of designating only expensive vehicles as luxury vehicles, adding approximately $15,000 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 $45,000 - 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 at $32,750, as would be the case with the new BMW 320i, which costs less than a Honda Accord V6 Touring. The biggest problem with a $45,000 minimum price of entry? Cars like the Cadillac XTS, which starts at $44,600 and SUVs like the $44,895 Chevrolet Tahoe.
^ In April, Infiniti also sold 1525 copies of the Q50's predecessor, the G sedan, and 846 Q60s.
^ Regular-wheelbase Escalade, the best-selling Escalade, found 877 buyers in April.
* BMW USA, not GoodCarBadCar, has chosen to combine sales of the 3-Series and 4-Series. A4 sales here include the Allroad, without which A4 sales were up 0.8% to 3167 in April.
Cadillac's new CTS - 3270 April sales - starts at $45,100, but the lingering CTS Coupe is a sub-$40K car, and the wagon starts at $42,195.