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

Land Rover's Range Rover Sport Posted An 11% Improvement In
2012 And Outsold The Range Rover Evoque By 381 Units

The Lexus CT200h Outsold The
GS, HS, LFA, LS, & GX Combined

Having fought through some rough patches, the BMW 3-Series ended 2012 with slightly improved Canadian sales. Volume crept up by eight units, and the 3-Series finished the year 618 sales ahead of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. In the secondary battle, the one in which utility vehicles compete, Lexus' RX ended 2012 nearly 1000 units ahead of the Audi Q5.

The ranking of the first three vehicles is identical to the order from last year's top 30, but the Q5 moved up five spots to fourth place, ahead of Audi's own A4. Whereas four of 2011's ten best-selling luxury vehicles were in decline, only two of 2012's ten best-selling luxury vehicles slid on a year-over-year basis. And sales of the seventh-ranked Mercedes-Benz GLK were down by just 15 units. The Acura MDX slid by only 92, even as the Acura RDX shot up by 1656 units. That was enough for the RDX to move up from 16th to 11th. 

All 262 Vehicles Ranked By 2012 Canadian Sales

The Infiniti EX, BMW 1-Series, Acura TSX, Acura CSX, and Mercedes-Benz B-Class were all members of the top 30 in 2011. Moving in to take their places were Land Rover's Range Rover Sport, Lexus CT200h, $49,675 Volkswagen Touareg, Acura ILX, and the Infiniti JX35. The ILX, of course, is rather inexpensive for a premium vehicle, and it's actually just a rename for the CSX's successor.

Click Chart For Larger View

To partially quote an earlier U.S. best-selling luxury 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 Canada's 20th-best-selling luxury vehicle, we'd rather show that 715 Canadian new car buyers spent at least $118,100 on a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. 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, for example, the $52,610 Chevrolet Suburban."

You can find monthly and yearly sales figures for every vehicle currently on sale in Canada or the United States at GCBC's Sales Stats page. There are hundreds of best seller lists at GCBC's aptly named Best Sellers page. Canada's overall best-selling vehicles post was published earlier this morning.

Rank	Best-Selling Luxury Vehicle	2012	2011	% Change
#1	BMW 3-Series	11,234	11,226	+ 0.1%
#2	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	10,616	9447	+ 12.4%
#3	Lexus RX	7130	6760	+ 5.5%
#4	Audi Q5	6152	4502	+ 36.7%
#5	Audi A4	6118	5480	+ 11.6%
#6	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	5539	3846	+ 44.0%
#7	Mercedes-Benz GLK	5279	5294	- 0.3%
#8	Acura MDX	5242	5334	- 1.7%
#9	BMW X3	5017	4671	+ 7.4%
#10	BMW X1	4776	2980	+ 60.3%
#11	Acura RDX	4726	3070	+ 53.9%
#12	Mercedes-Benz  E-Class & CLS-Class	4083	3898	+ 4.7%
#13	BMW X5	3975	4155	- 4.3%
#14	Lincoln MKX	3792	4595	- 17.5%
#15	Acura TL	3323	3229	+ 2.9%
#16	Cadillac SRX	3102	3197	- 3.0%
#17	Infiniti G	3003	3603	- 16.7%
#18	BMW 5-Series	2727	2963	- 8.0%
#19	Lexus ES	2535	1892	+ 34.0%
#20	Acura ILX	2259	-----	-----
#21	Infiniti JX35	2178	-----	-----
#22	Cadillac CTS	2157	3048	- 29.2%
#23	Audi A5	2024	1948	+ 3.9%
T24	Volkswagen Touareg	1975	1618	+ 22.1%
T24	Lexus IS	1975	2235	- 11.6%
#26	Mercedes-Benz  GL-Class & G-Class	1973	1722	+ 14.6%
#27	Volvo XC60	1885	1865	+ 1.1%
#28	Audi Q7	1653	1565	+ 5.6%
#29	Lexus CT200h	1640	1350	+ 21.5%
#30	Land Rover  Range Rover Sport	1634	1475	+ 10.8%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC 
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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