2012 Year End Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America

Infiniti's JX35 Is The Only Vehicle In
The Top 30 Which Wasn't On Sale All Year

Clearly not selling at pre-recession levels, when 140,000 landed in U.S. driveways, the BMW 3-Series still ended 2012 more than 4000 sales ahead of its nearest premium brand rival. The second-ranked Lexus RX is certainly dominant in its own way: its nearest SUV/CUV rival is 35,537 sales abaft.

As you may have just read in the December 2012 edition of this post, GCBC will be dramatically altering the best-selling luxury post when the January edition appears at the beginning of February.

But it has become clear that the amount of overlap between premium brands and mainstream brands results in a very subjective post that doesn't accurately reflect where big spenders spray their automotive dollars. Rather than list an Acura ILX as America's 27th-best-selling luxury vehicle, we'd rather show that 1110 American new car buyers spent at least $92,350 on a Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

All 266 Vehicles Ranked By 2012 Year End U.S. Sales

Click Market Share Chart For Larger View

Once a price limit is chosen, it will seem unfair to the vehicles which are definitely luxurious but too inexpensive. Obviously, a minimum base price of $40,000, or $45,000, or $50,000 cuts out some very high-end vehicles. Yet it's the easiest way of excluding the Mercedes-Benz B-Class and including the Buick Enclave, for example.

Before that change takes effect, you have this list of the 30 best-selling luxury vehicles in America for 2012. 16 are cars, 14 are SUVs or crossovers of one sort or another. Cadillac and Lincoln combined for five Detroit appearances. German brands owned twelve spots, including the first and last. That left two Volvos and eleven Asian nameplates.

Expect to see something a little different in the results below? Find the sales figures for any currently marketed vehicle by making your selection at GCBC's Sales Stats home.

Updated at 11:15 AM AT on 01.06.2013

Rank	Best-Selling Luxury Vehicle	2012	2011	% Change
#1	BMW 3-Series	99,602	94,371	+ 5.5%
#2	Lexus RX	95,381	82,595	+ 15.5%
#3	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	81,697	69,314	+ 17.9%
#4	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	65,171	62,736	+ 3.9%
#5	Infiniti G	59,844	58,246	+ 2.7%
#6	Cadillac SRX	57,485	56,905	+ 1.0%
#7	BMW 5-Series	56,798	51,491	+ 10.3%
#8	Lexus ES	56,158	40,873	+ 37.4%
#9	Acura MDX	50,854	43,271	+ 17.5%
#10	Cadillac CTS	46,979	55,042	- 14.6%
#11	BMW X5	44,445	40,547	+ 9.6%
#12	Audi A4	38,530	35,234	+ 9.4%
	A4 Sedan	34,163	31,729	+ 7.7%
	Allroad	3115	-----	-----
	A4 Avant	1252	3505	- 64.3%
#13	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	38,101	35,835	+ 6.3%
#14	BMW X3	35,173	27,793	+ 26.6%
#15	Hyundai Genesis	33,973	32,998	+ 3.0%
#16	Acura TL	33,572	31,237	+ 7.5%
#17	Acura RDX	29,520	15,196	+ 94.3%
#18	Mercedes-Benz GLK	29,364	24,310	+ 20.8%
#19	Acura TSX	28,865	30,935	- 6.7%
	TSX Sedan	24,631	27,725	- 11.2%
	TSX Sport Wagon	4234	3210	+ 31.9%
#20	Audi Q5	28,671	24,908	+ 15.1%
#21	Lincoln MKZ	28,053	27,529	+ 1.9%
#22	Lexus IS	27,708	29,669	- 6.6%
#23	Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	26,042	25,139	+ 3.6%
#24	Lincoln MKX	25,107	23,395	+ 7.3%
#25	Volvo S60	23,356	21,282	+ 9.7%
#26	Cadillac Escalade	22,632	25,503	- 11.3%
	Escalade	12,615	15,079	- 16.3%
	Escalade ESV	8083	8388	- 3.6%
	Escalade EXT	1934	2036	- 5.0%
#27	Lexus GS	22,160	3746	+ 492%
#28	Infiniti JX35	21,674	-----	-----
#29	Volvo XC60	19,139	12,932	+ 38.4%
#30	Audi A6	18,998	11,124	+ 70.8%

Source: Manufacturers
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales 
GCBC qualifies all vehicles from Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Acura, Cadillac, Audi, Infiniti, Lincoln, Volvo, Land Rover, Porsche, and Jaguar while also making exceptions for overtly premium cars like the Chevrolet Corvette, Nissan GT-R, Volkswagen Touareg, Hyundai Equus, and (reluctantly) Hyundai Genesis. Buick's lack of anything truly high-end hinders its value-priced vehicles from qualifying as premium despite the image Buick held in a previous era. Yes, this means the B-Class is eligible because of the S-Class; the A3 because of the R8, to an extent. Unfortunately the lack of data separating vehicle trim lines from one another (F-150 XL vs F-150 Platinum, for example) means vehicles like the GMC Yukon Denali and Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 aren't included. None of this should lead you to believe the Chrysler 300 and Toyota Avalon and Buick Enclave aren't luxurious, particularly as they're viable competitors for true premium players.

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