Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - March 2017

The Lexus RX took a 2% hit in March 2017, but America's best-selling luxury vehicle in 2016 once again leads the luxury sales race through the first-quarter of 2017. The Lexus RX outsold its nearest rival, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, by 1424 units in March. The second-ranked SUV/crossover was 3050 sales abaft.

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U.S. Vehicle Sales By Model - April 2017 YTD

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Mercedes-Benz, the leader of luxury auto sales in 2016 and in 2017 Q1, was outsold in March by BMW, where sales rose 3%. Thank the X3, ranked third overall, for much of that increase. BMW X3 volume grew 43%, or nearly 2000 units, in March 2017. With 3-Series  and 5-Series sales flat and surging X5 volume assisting, BMW finished March nearly 2000 sales ahead of Mercedes-Benz.

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Among the 15 top-selling premium brand vehicles in America in March 2017, nine were utility vehicles.

Among the 15 top-selling vehicles with base prices above $50,000, 11 were SUVs/crossovers. 

Historical monthly and yearly sales figures for any of these top-selling luxury vehicles can always be accessed through the dropdown menu at GCBC's Sales Stats page, and for those not viewing the mobile version of this site, near the top right of this page, as well. 

Mobile users can now thumb across the tables for full-width access.

February 2017 • March 2016

Rank	Premium Brand Vehicle	March 2016	March 2016	%  Change	2017 YTD	2016 YTD	%  Change
#1	Lexus RX	9,445	9,648	-2.1%	21,641	23,796	-9.1%
#2	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	8,021	6,658	20.5%	20,619	17,839	15.6%
#3	BMW X3	6,395	4,476	42.9%	13,569	10,211	32.9%
#4	BMW 3-Series	6,197	6,218	-0.3%	14,637	14,100	3.8%
#5	Lexus NX	5,619	4,533	24.0%	12,097	11,375	6.3%
#6	Cadillac XT5	5,280	---	---	13,454	---	---
#7	Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class	4,919	4,730	4.0%	12,906	12,341	4.6%
#8	BMW X5	4,896	3,617	35.4%	12,072	10,043	20.2%
#9	Lexus ES	4,626	5,792	-20.1%	9,506	13,018	-27.0%
#10	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	4,510	3,695	22.1%	11,872	8,560	38.7%
#11	Audi Q5	4,382	3,728	17.5%	11,312	8,840	28.0%
#12	Acura MDX	4,141	4,088	1.3%	10,956	11,956	-8.4%
#13	Audi A4	4,062	3,403	19.4%	8,558	6,828	25.3%
#14	Infiniti QX60	3,821	3,905	-2.2%	8,668	9,007	-3.8%
#15	Infiniti Q50	3,800	5,590	-32.0%	10,450	11,868	-11.9%

For the purposes of the above list, premium brands include Acura, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volvo. Brands like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Lotus don't report specific monthly sales data.

Rank	Vehicles With Base Prices Above $50K	March  2016	March 2015	%  Change	2017 YTD	2016 YTD	%  Change
#1	Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class	4,919	4,730	4.0%	12,906	12,341	4.6%
#2	BMW X5	4,896	3,617	35.4%	12,072	10,043	20.2%
#3	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	4,510	3,695	22.1%	11,872	8,560	38.7%
#4	BMW 5-Series	3,161	3,157	0.1%	6,641	9,710	-31.6%
#5	Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class	2,938	858	242%	7,741	3,880	99.5%
#6	Cadillac Escalade	2,862	3,238	-11.6%	7,505	8,107	-7.4%
	Cadillac Escalade *	1,648	1,974	-16.5%	4,300	5,021	-14.4%
	Cadillac Escalade ESV *	1,214	1,264	-4.0%	3,205	3,086	3.9%
#7	GMC Yukon XL	2,849	2,427	17.4%	7,556	6,702	12.7%
#8	Audi Q7	2,660	3,004	-11.5%	7,548	6,993	7.9%
#9	Lexus GX	2,569	1,961	31.0%	5,514	5,219	5.7%
#10	Chevrolet Corvette	2,460	2,753	-10.6%	5,804	6,370	-8.9%
#11	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	2,251	2,507	-10.2%	5,993	5,552	7.9%
#12	Land Rover Range Rover	1,991	1,792	11.1%	5,512	4,805	14.7%
#13	Infiniti QX80	1,983	1,403	41.3%	5,355	4,054	32.1%
#14	Volvo XC90	1,671	3,000	-44.3%	4,568	7,847	-41.8%
#15	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	1,434	1,332	7.7%	3,648	4,167	-12.5%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
$50,000 USD (before delivery) is an arbitrary borderline, upgraded in 2016 from $45K last year by $5K, but if GCBC was to follow this system of designating only expensive vehicles as luxury vehicles, adding approximately $20,000 to the average new car transaction price seemed like a fitting place to begin. Plenty of less expensive vehicles with specific models feature prices above $50,000 - M, RS, and AMG models come to mind, specifically - but in the case of the second list, we know that none of the registrations were of cars priced below that borderline.
RECOMMENDED READING
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - February 2017
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - March 2016
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - March 2017
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America - March 2017
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - March 2017