August 2012 Large Luxury Car Sales And Large Luxury SUV Sales In America

Large Luxury Car Sales Chart
Click Either Chart For A Larger View

Whatever the reason, in August 2012 BMW USA 7-Series sales hit the lowest level since GoodCarBadCar began tracking monthly volume. The 7-Series was outsold by all the cars it normally beats. Fortunately for BMW, this lapse hasn't taken away the 7er's year-to-date lead over the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and all its other large luxury limo rivals.

The S-Class, even with a 5.5% year-over-year decline of its own, did eat away at the 7-Series' lead. The gap now stands at 350 units through eight months. In second place in August was the Lexus LS. Soon to be replaced, the LS is down 23% this year. And in third place was the diesel-less Porsche Panamera. No, a large luxury car doesn't require a diesel to compete in the United States, although Mercedes-Benz's second-least-expensive S-Class is the S350 BlueTec diesel. (It costs $200 more than the Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid.)

All 262 Vehicles Ranked By U.S. August YTD Sales

But Porsche does sell a Panamera diesel. And it's apparently very good. Still ugly, but very good, as Chris Harris makes clear in the Drive video embedded below. Porsche brought the Cayenne S Diesel to North America and they don't mask the fact that there's not a conventional gas-fired powerplant under the hood. It says diesel in large font on the side of the car. Just like the Panamera Diesel does, in countries where it's been made available.


Among large luxury SUVs on sale in America, only the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class offers a diesel. Incidentally, the GL is the best-selling luxo jumbo sport-utility in the United States, although Cadillac took that crown in the month of August.

Large Luxury SUV Sales Chart

Want to go back in time? As always, historical monthly and yearly sales figures for any vehicle currently marketed in North America can be accessed through the first dropdown menu at GCBC's Sales Stats home or, for non-mobile users, near the top right of this page. But we've added links in the tables below which will take you directly to each vehicle's sales page. Just click the model name. That'll save you a couple steps.

After the jump you'll find detailed August and year-to-date sales info for six large luxury cars and eight large luxury SUVs. We don't include the Hyundai Equus and Cadillac XTS here because of their significantly lower price tags. For the record, you can find the 2158 XTS sales and 296 Equus sales in another post.

Large Luxury Car	August 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Audi A8	470	+ 0.4%	3419	- 9.3%
BMW 7-Series	339	- 56.3%	7639	+ 11.0%
Jaguar XJ	426	+ 38.8%	3515	- 6.0%
Lexus LS	786	- 3.7%	4358	- 22.8%
Mercedes-Benz S-Class	927	- 5.5%	7289	- 1.9%
Porsche Panamera	646	+ 22.1%	5378	+ 15.2%

Large Luxury SUV	August 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Cadillac Escalade & Escalade ESV/EXT	2189	+ 13.2%	14,741	- 3.4%
Infiniti QX56	1026	- 10.6%	8385	+ 7.5%
Land Rover Range Rover	658	- 1.5%	5490	- 15.7%
Lexus LX570	514	+ 65.8%	3388	+ 65.5%
Lincoln Navigator	595	- 0.2%	4976	+ 0.2%
Mercedes-Benz G-Class	143	+ 9.2%	668	- 23.9%
Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	1522	- 12.0%	15,598	+ 6.4%
Toyota Land Cruiser	319	+ 136%	1767	+ 61.5%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Large Luxury Car & SUV Sales In America - September 2012
U.S. Large Luxury Car & SUV Sales - July 2012
U.S. Large Luxury Car & SUV Sales - August 2011
Small & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In America - August 2012
Small/Entry & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In America - August 2012
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - August 2012