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

2015 Acura TLX
Among vehicles with base prices of more than $45,000, five of September's ten best sellers were General Motors products.


• All Makes & Models Ranked By September 2014 YTD U.S. Sales


USA luxury auto brand market share sales chart September 2014
Click Chart To Expand
GM says their average transaction price rose to a best-ever $34,600 in September 2014, $1200 higher than August's ATP and $2500 up from September 2013's ATP. GM, however, credited strong truck and crossover sales for the profit-driving selling prices, and not Cadillac. 

Among premium brand vehicles, the highest-ranked Cadillac was the ninth-place SRX, sales of which fell 15% in September after a 37% drop in August. 

The Escalade lineup combined for 3518 sales, 2290 from the regular wheelbase and 1228 from the ESV. But Cadillac car sales slid 14%. Together with the SRX's decline, this cancelled out the doubling of Escalade sales, and total Cadillac volume grew by just one unit, year-over-year, as the industry jumped more than 9%.

Instead of selling Cadillacs at Mercedes-Benz or BMW-like levels, General Motors still does a remarkable job of controlling the volume-brand full-size SUV category. The Yukon, Yukon XL, and Suburban all have base prices in excess of $45,000, and the better-selling Tahoe starts at $44,895. Corvette sales, meanwhile, tripled to 2467 units in September. Corvette pricing starts $54,000.

Also present on that GM-heavy $45K+ list at the bottom of this post are four Mercedes-Benzes, two cars and two SUVs. The best-selling premium brand vehicle in America is the BMW 3-Series (4-Series inclusive, as per BMW's sales release). 3-Series/4-Series sales shot up 50.5% in September. America's leading premium brand utility vehicle is the Lexus RX.

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.

October 2014 • August 2014September 2013

Rank
Premium Brand Vehicle
September 2014
September
2013
% Change
2014
YTD
2013
YTD
% Change
#1
BMW 3-Series & 4-Series *
12,814851250.5%94,44577,92121.2%
#2
Lexus RX
74537601-1.9%76,21673,2794.0%
#3
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
62856389-1.6%50,17066,596-24.7%
#4
Lexus ES
5722486617.6%52,91052,0761.6%
#5
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
48835646-13.5%52,60846,00614.4%
#6
Acura MDX
486445397.2%48,30834,80338.8%
#7
BMW X5
43984667-5.8%33,02131,2805.6%
#8
Acura TLX
3884------6170------
#9
Cadillac SRX
37004362-15.2%41,70840,5063.0%
#10
Lexus IS
3611320112.8%37,03822,06067.9%
#11
Cadillac Escalade
35181754101%21,40216,54329.4%

Cadillac
Escalade ^
2290968137%13,705895353.1%

Cadillac
Escalade ESV ^
122863493.7%7647591629.3%

Cadillac
Escalade EXT ^
---152-100%501674-97.0%
#12
Mercedes-Benz M-Class
346031808.8%32,11429,4009.2%
#13
Audi Q5
32403268-0.9%30,11428,5995.3%
#14
Acura RDX
323030226.9%33,09533,539-1.3%
#15
Audi A4 *
29943813-21.5%29,30431,113-5.8%
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
September 2014
September
2013
% Change
2014
YTD
2013
YTD
% Change
#1
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
48835647-13.5%52,60846,00614.4%
#2
BMW X5
43984667-5.8%33,02131,2805.6%
#3
Chevrolet Suburban
4101273350.1%38,58834,58011.6%
#4
Cadillac Escalade
35181754101%21,40216,54329.4%

Cadillac Escalade ^
2290968137%13,705895353.1%

Cadillac
Escalade ESV ^
122863493.7%7647591629.3%

Cadillac
Escalade EXT ^
---152-100%501674-97.0%
#5
Mercedes-Benz M-Class
346031808.8%32,11429,4009.2%
#6
GMC Yukon
3226166793.5%30,68418,90762.3%
#7
Chevrolet Corvette
2467831197%25,9507830231%
#8
GMC Yukon XL
2165132064.0%21,92821,946-0.1%
#9
Mercedes-Benz GL-Class
21542349-8.3%17,72822,182-20.1%
#10
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
1909387373%16,9157625122%
#11
Lexus GS
1592123129.3%16,25214,25514.0%
#12
Lexus GX460
1570753108%15,9997105125%
#13
BMW 5-Series
14073574-60.6%39,16838,6811.3%
#14
Audi Q7
13651386-1.5%13,10510,77221.7%
#15
Porsche Cayenne
11961396-14.3%12,94013,913-7.0%
Source: Automakers & ANDC
$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 $48,895 Chevrolet Tahoe.
^ In September, Infiniti sold 881 copies of the Q50's predecessor, the G sedan, and 454 Q60s to go along with 2742 Q50s.
* BMW USA, not GoodCarBadCar, has chosen to combine sales of the 3-Series and 4-Series. GCBC combines sales of the Audi A4 and Audi A4 Allroad. None-Allroad sales were 2480 in September.
Cadillac's new CTS - 2282 September sales - starts at $45,100, but the lingering CTS Coupe is a sub-$40K car, and the wagon starts at $42,195.

RECOMMENDED READING
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - October 2014
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - August 2014
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - September 2013


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