Top 15 Best Selling Luxury Vehicles In America December 2014

With 19,464 December sales in 2014, BMWs 3-Series/4-Series vehicle line outsold all of Audi, all of Acura, all of Cadillac, all of Infiniti, all of Lincoln. Land Rover, Jaguar, and Volvo combined for 17,127 sales. 

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• Americas Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Calendar Year 2014

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Click Chart To Expand

Yes, it was a particularly dominant month for the venerable BMW. And during the same period, sales of BMWs X5 more than tripled, year-over-year, to 6098 units, making it the third-best-selling premium brand utility vehicle in December 2014.

Cadillac, meanwhile, the current whipping boy for American auto observers, posted a brand-wide 11% loss as their car volume fell 23% compared with December 2014. 

Combined, the ATS and CTS were down by 1987 units, a loss of 28%.

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• U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - December 2014 Year End

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

January 2015 • November 2014 • December 2013

Rank	Premium Brand Vehicle	December 2014	December 2013	% Change	2014	2013	% Change
#1	BMW 3-Series & 4-Series *	19,464	16,737	16.3%	142,232	119,521	19.0%
#2	Lexus RX	13,625	13,169	3.5%	107,490	103,920	3.4%
#3	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	8224	7229	13.8%	75,065	88,251	-14.9%
#4	Lexus ES	7782	8213	-5.2%	72,508	72,581	-0.1%
#5	Acura MDX	6761	6538	3.4%	65,603	53,040	23.7%
#6	BMW X5	6098	1953	212%	47,031	39,818	18.1%
#7	Lexus IS	5939	5414	9.7%	51,358	35,017	46.7%
#8	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	5625	4485	25.4%	46,726	41,326	13.1%
#9	BMW 5-Series	5517	8102	-31.9%	52,704	56,863	-7.3%
#10	Acura RDX	5156	4215	22.3%	44,865	44,750	0.3%
#11	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	5119	8727	-41.3%	66,400	69,803	-4.9%
#12	Cadillac SRX	4899	6074	-19.3%	53,578	56,776	-5.6%
#13	Audi Q5	4551	4794	-5.1%	42,420	40,355	5.1%
#14	Infiniti Q50	3855	4568	-15.6%	36,899	17,816	107%
#15	Acura TLX	3834	---	---	19,127	---	---

For the purposes of the above list, premium brands include Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volvo. Brands like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Lotus dont report specific monthly sales data. Bentley and Maserati only report brand totals. Buick has been excluded with a bunch of other automakers that dont sell vehicles with base prices higher than $40K.

Rank	Vehicles With Base Prices Above $45K	December 2014	December 2013	% Change	2014	2013	% Change
#1	Chevrolet Tahoe	11,259	8646	30.2%	97,726	83,502	17.0%
#2	Chevrolet Suburban	6761	5820	16.2%	55,009	51,260	7.3%
#3	BMW X5	6098	1953	212%	47,031	39,818	18.1%
#4	Mercedes-Benz M-Class	5625	4485	25.4%	46,726	41,326	13.1%
#5	BMW 5-Series	5517	8102	-31.9%	52,704	56,863	-7.3%
#6	Mercedes-Benz E-Class	5119	8727	-41.3%	66,400	69,803	-4.9%
#7	GMC Yukon	4729	3597	31.5%	41,569	28,302	46.9%
#8	Cadillac Escalade	3740	2311	61.8%	30,522	22,514	35.6%
	Cadillac Escalade ^	2281	1470	55.2%	19,482	12,592	54.7%
	Cadillac Escalade ESV ^	1459	775	88.3%	10,987	7950	38.2%
	Cadillac Escalade EXT ^	---	66	-100%	53	1972	-97.3%
#9	Chevrolet Corvette	3552	3005	18.2%	34,839	17,291	101%
#10	Mercedes-Benz GL-Class	3394	2239	51.6%	26,597	29,912	-11.1%
#11	GMC Yukon XL	3260	3158	3.2%	29,752	31,258	-4.8%
#12	Mercedes-Benz S-Class	2832	1857	52.5%	25,276	13,303	90.0%
#13	Lexus GS	2745	2604	5.4%	22,198	19,742	12.4%
#14	Lexus GX460	2707	1830	47.9%	22,685	12,136	86.9%
#15	Land Rover Range Rover Sport	2036	2305	-11.7%	17,897	15,976	12.0%

Source: Automakers & ANDC
$45,000 USD (before delivery) is an arbitrary borderline, but if GCBC was to follow this system of designating only expensive vehicles as luxury vehicles, adding approximately $15,000 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 $45,000 - 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 at $32,750, as would be the case with the new BMW 320i, which costs less than a Honda Accord V6 Touring. The biggest problem with a $45,000 minimum price of entry? Cars like the Cadillac XTS, which starts at $44,660.
^ Escalade breakdown by model
* BMW USA, not GoodCarBadCar, has chosen to combine sales of the 3-Series and 4-Series. GCBC combines sales of the Audi A4 and Audi A4 Allroad. None-Allroad sales were down 10% to 3197 in December and down 7.5% to 33,993 in 2014. Cadillacs new CTS - 2652 December sales - starts at $45,100, but the lingering CTS Coupe is a sub-$40K car, and the wagon starts at $42,195.

RECOMMENDED READING  
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - January 2015
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - November 2014  
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - December 2013

Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2014
Top 20 Best-Selling SUVs In America - December 2014 
U.S. Auto Sales Brand Rankings - December 2014 & Year End
Top 15 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In America - 2014 Year End