Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - May 2012

For the first time since December of last year, the Lexus RX won the monthly title of America's best-selling premium brand vehicle. In May 2012, BMW 3-Series sales slid 22% as supply of the new sedan was tight (Cars.com currently lists approximately three times as many 5-Series sedans as new F30 3-Series sedans in U.S. inventory) and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class's 35% increase simply wasn't enough to overcome the hot-selling RX. 

The 2013 Lexus RX350 starts at $39,310. Not that the 3-Series sedan is a direct rival for the RX - it most certainly isn't - but the 328i happens to start at $34,900; the 335i at $42,400. Mercedes-Benz's C-Class has a base MSRP $100 below the 328i's. Recent history doesn't show BMW's 5-Series coming close to outselling the 3-Series in any single month, and though it didn't sell more frequently in May either, the 219-unit gap was slight. The 5-Series starts at $46,900 in the United States.

Cadillac's two top sellers ranked sixth and seventh in April. Those same two vehicles, the CTS and SRX, finished May behind seven other premium vehicles. May 2012 was the worst SRX sales month since June 2010, although sales slid by just ten units compared with May of last year. Cadillac's other entry, the Escalade, tied its Mercedes-Benz rival at the 28th position. Lincoln's best seller finished May in 21st. Audi, which landed the A4 in 12th spot last month, let its core sedan slide to 15th in May. Audi was America's third-best-selling premium brand in March but fell behind third-ranked Acura in April and May. 

No, GoodCarBadCar isn't yet prepared to consider Buick a luxury brand, although it's not hard to see why some GM fans would consider Buick as high-end as Volvo or Acura. For the record, Buick sold 6709 Enclaves in May 2012, enough to make it the second-best-selling premium vehicle in America... if you consider the Enclave (a favoured and recommended vehicle here at GCBC Towers) a premium vehicle. 

Buick also sold 5663 LaCrosse sedans, 3609 Veranos, and 2550 copies of the Regal, arguably the best-looking sedan on sale today. 

Given the likelihood that most Hyundai Genesis sales are of the coupe variety, you can feel free to toss the tenth-best-selling Hyundai from this list, too. That would allow entry for the Lexus CT200h, sales of which jumped 241% to 1549 in May. Audi sold 1264 A5 and S5 coupes and cabriolets. Chevrolet sold 1219 Corvettes. Americans acquired 1197 Range Rover Sports, 1174 Porsche Cayennes and 1169 BMW 7-Series luxo-limos. Lincoln MKS sales rose 24% to 1128. Sales of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class hit 1022. All other premium nameplates failed to find more than 1000 buyers.

Historical monthly and yearly sales figures for these high-class automobiles and every other vehicle on sale can be accessed through the first dropdown menu at GoodCarBadCar's Sales Stats home or at the top right of this page. Other pertinent links are eligible for clicking at the bottom of this post, after you've scanned this list of the 30 best-selling luxury vehicles in America in May 2012.

Rank	Luxury Vehicle	May 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Lexus RX	10,647	+ 82.1%	35,376	+ 2.0%
#2	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	6649	+ 34.7%	31,180	+ 22.9%
#3	BMW 3-Series	6321	- 22.1%	40,022	+ 15.3%
#4	BMW 5-Series	6102	+ 45.3%	22,377	+ 7.0%
#5	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	5576	- 3.0%	24,777	- 5.3%
#6	Infiniti G	5195	+ 34.9%	23,473	- 4.3%
#7	Acura MDX	4841	+ 26.6%	18,992	+ 0.9%
#8	Cadillac CTS	4161	- 3.0%	20,437	- 10.4%
#9	Cadillac SRX	3900	- 0.3%	21,190	- 4.8%
#10	Hyundai Genesis	3828	+ 38.2%	15,608	+ 26.8%
#11	BMW X5	3730	+ 39.0%	15,966	+ 25.3%
#12	Acura RDX	3301	+ 217%	8183	+ 36.0%
#13	Acura TL	3262	+ 48.5%	14,676	+ 11.9%
#14	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	3198	+ 65.9%	17,735	+ 59.5%
#15	Audi A4	3058	- 4.2%	14,852	- 2.3%
#16	Lexus ES350	2937	+ 22.4%	14,485	+ 0.3%
#17	Acura TSX	2880	+ 64.5%	15,012	+ 21.1%
#18	Infiniti JX35	2678	-----	5297	-----
#19	Lexus IS	2656	+ 54.9%	11,622	+ 2.1%
#20	BMW X3	2460	+ 4.7%	11,592	+ 12.1%
#21	Lincoln MKZ	2458	- 2.6%	11,402	- 1.3%
#22	Audi Q5	2332	+ 5.0%	10,764	+ 14.4%
#23	Lincoln MKX	2197	+ 26.7%	10,506	+ 16.2%
#24	Mercedes-Benz GLK	2133	- 3.7%	10,228	+ 6.7%
#25	Volvo S60	2125	- 11.6%	9800	+ 13.7%
#26	Lexus GS	1996	+ 552%	9050	+ 405%
#27	Volvo XC60	1751	+ 26.35	6885	+ 12.4%
T28	Cadillac Escalade	1722	- 3.6%	8591	- 13.8%
T28	Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	1722	- 8.6%	9644	+ 14.1%
#30	Audi A6	1693	+ 260%	6839	+ 125%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

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