December 2012 Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada

Year-Over-Year, Canadian 7-Series Volume
More Than Quadrupled In December

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class was Canada's top-selling luxury vehicle in December 2012. The BMW 3-Series ranked second; Audi's A4 was a ways back in seventh. 

Their Japanese rivals? You won't find the Infiniti G on this list: sales fell 53.6% in December 2012, and dealers are surely anxiously awaiting the new Q50. The Lexus IS ranked 21st, the same spot it held a year ago. And Acura's three-pronged front-wheel-drive attack on the Germans resulted in 886 sales in December, fewer than Mercedes and BMW managed with the C-Class and 3er. And the leading Acura sedan was the Civic-based ILX, hardly a "luxury car" in the minds of most consumers.

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

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And while the Lexus RX ended the year as Canada's best-selling premium brand utility vehicle, it trailed two Germans in December, although only by a bit. Audi Q5 sales shot up 128% to 564; sales of the Mercedes-Benz GLK jumped 39% to 562. 62 of the 540 RXs sold by Lexus in December were hybrids.

Speaking of Lexus hybrids, 58 of the ES's December total was hybrid-derived. Lexus also sold four GS hybrids and 92 copies of the CT200h. Unfortunately, most brands don't release such model-specific data.

All 262 Vehicles Ranked By 2012 Canadian Sales
Sales figures for the vast majority of vehicles unseen in the table below can always be accessed at GCBC's Sales Stats page. That's where you'll find out that Lincoln sold 444 MKX crossovers at this time last year while BMW sold but 35 7-Series sedans.

Rank	Luxury Vehicle	December 2012	% Change	2012  Year End	YTD % Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	1010	+ 6.8%	10,616	+ 12.4%
#2	BMW 3-Series	940	+ 26.7%	11,234	+ 0.1%
#3	Audi Q5	564	+ 128%	6152	+ 36.7%
#4	Mercedes-Benz GLK	562	+ 38.8%	5279	- 0.3%
#5	Lexus RX	540	- 8.9%	7130	+ 5.5%
#6	Acura MDX	506	+ 52.0%	5242	- 1.7%
#7	Audi A4	429	+ 63.7%	6118	+ 11.6%
#8	Acura ILX	409	-----	2259	-----
#9	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	402	- 10.5%	5539	+ 44.0%
#10	Acura TL	399	- 8.7%	3323	+ 2.9%
#11	Acura RDX	398	+ 13.1%	4726	+ 53.9%
#12	BMW X3	332	- 11.5%	5017	+ 7.4%
#13	Mercedes-Benz B-Class	325	+ 3150%	454	- 81.4%
#14	BMW X1	294	- 6.1%	4776	+ 60.3%
#15	Cadillac SRX	268	+ 14.0%	3102	- 3.0%
#16	Mercedes-Benz  E-Class & CLS-Class	254	- 24.9%	4083	+ 4.7%
#17	Lincoln MKX	237	- 46.6%	3792	- 17.5%
#18	Lexus ES	218	+ 43.4%	2535	+ 34.0%
#19	Mercedes-Benz  GL-Class & G-Class	212	+ 37.7%	1973	+ 14.6%
#20	BMW X5	172	- 44.5%	3975	- 4.3%
#21	Lexus IS	167	+ 16.8%	1975	- 11.6%
#22	BMW 5-Series	163	- 32.4%	2727	- 8.0%
#23	Infiniti JX35	163	-----	2178	-----
#24	BMW 7-Series	156	+ 346%	755	+ 41.9%
#25	Volkswagen Touareg	149	+ 35.5%	1975	+ 22.1%
#26	Porsche Cayenne	143	+ 361%	1628	+ 47.3%
#27	Land Rover  Range Rover Evoque	140	- 6.7%	1253	+ 204%
#28	Volvo XC60	125	- 28.2%	1885	+ 1.1%
#29	Audi Q7	122	+ 62.7%	1653	+ 5.6%
#30	Land Rover  Range Rover Sport	116	+ 20.8%	1634	+ 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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