Large Luxury Car Sales And Large Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - December 2011 And 2011 Year End

December 2011 Large Luxury Car Sales Chart
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With 2229 sales between the six cars, Canada's large luxury segment vacuumed up just 0.14% of the new vehicle market in 2011. That's down from the 0.16% owned by the category just a year ago. The declines reported by 67% of the cars in the segment were too much for the Audi A8 and Jaguar XJ to overcome.

If you choose to consider the Hyundai Equus a member of the large luxury segment, then some numbers must change. As the seventh-ranked car, the Equus's market share would be 4.9%, enough to pull the S-Class's market share down from 33.4% to 31.7%, enough to pull the sixth-ranked Lexus LS down to 6.7% from 7%. Moreover, the segment's share of the overall market climbs to 0.15%, still down from last year, and that's with an extra car in the mix.

Ten Lexus LS600hL hybrids were sold in Canada in 2011. 19 were sold in 2010. For perspective, remember that Lexus sold (or was it leased?) four LFA supercars in Canada in 2011. 

2011 Year End Large
Luxury Car Sales Chart

As for the S-Class/CL-Class issue we're faced with in the Canadian results, we know that 7.1% of the S and CL-Class Benzes sold in America are CL coupes. With that number in mind, we can assume - and that's all it is, an assumption - that Mercedes-Benz Canada sold 53 CL-Class coupes in 2011, dragging the S-Class sedan's total down to 691. If that's the case, the S-Class's victory remains, at the very least, secure.

After the jump you'll find numbers for the distinctly more popular large luxury SUV category. Monthly and yearly sales figures for those vehicles, for these large luxury cars, and for every other model currently on sale in North America can be found by accessing the dropdown menu at the top right of this page.

Large Luxury Car	December 2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Audi A8	16	+ 14.3%	211	+ 59.8%
BMW 7-Series	35	- 72.0%	532	- 28.2%
Jaguar XJ	20	+ 53.8%	227	+ 20.1%
Lexus LS	17	- 5.6%	156	- 31.0%
Mercedes-Benz S/CL-Class	75	- 31.8%	744	- 2.5%
Porsche Panamera	16	- 33.3%	359	- 7.2%

December 2011 Large Luxury SUV Sales Chart

26,630 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagens and GL-Class SUVs were sold in America in 2011. Shockingly, though America's market was only eight times the size of Canada's, those Benz SUV sales totals are 15.5 times better. Ignore the digression, as you'll often find that U.S. luxury sales figures vary more wildly than the overall market's tendencies. That's all the more reason to suspect inaccuracies in any assumption regarding how many G-Wagen Benzes were sold in Canada in 2011, but we'll make an effort anyhow. 

4.5% of the U.S. G/GL total was G-Wagen-derived. If that figure holds, we would conclude that around 77 G-Class SUVs were sold in Canada in 2011 along with 1645 copies of the conventional GL-Class utility.

We also know that 652 regular-wheelbase Escalades were acquired. That left 223 Escalade ESVs and 217 Escalade EXTs. Measuring by year-over-year percentage increase, the Infiniti QX56 was one of the fastest-growing nameplates in Canada. 205 more were sold this year than there were last. An extra 65 Land Cruisers were sold this year, too.

Large Luxury SUV	December 2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Cadillac Escalade & Escalade ESV/EXT	82	- 23.4%	1092	- 7.5%
Infiniti QX56	33	- 38.9%	470	+ 77.4%
Land Rover Range Rover	51	+ 30.8%	419	- 2.8%
Lexus LX	10	- 16.7%	114	- 36.7%
Lincoln Navigator	46	+ 15.0%	609	+ 11.9%
Mercedes-Benz G/GL-Class	154	- 7.8%	1722	+ 19.8%
Toyota Land Cruiser	27	+ 200%	158	+ 69.9%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Large Luxury Car Sales In Canada - December & 2012 Year End
Large Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - December & 2012 Year End
Large Luxury Car & Large Luxury SUV Sales Figures - November 2012
Large Luxury Car & Large Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - January 2012
Large Luxury Car & Large Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - November 2011
Large Luxury Car & Large Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - 2010 Year End
Luxury Auto Brand Market Share In Canada - 2011 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada - 2011 Year End

Small/Entry Luxury Car Sales And Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - December 2011 And 2011 Year End

December 2011 Small Lux Car Sales Chart
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Cadillac sold 227 DTS sedans in 2011. Lincoln did better with the Town Car, selling 310 of the big boats. These were not the two best-selling luxury cars in Canada.

Indeed, the BMW 3-Series was Canada's best-selling luxury car, as we already pointed out. In fact, had BMW stopped selling the 3-Series at the end of October, the 3-Series still would have ended 2011 as Canada's best-selling luxury car. Mercedes-Benz C-Class sales jumped 17% in 2011, firming up the C-Class's hold on second place.

Further down the pack, another German, Audi's A4, was third in class. Infiniti's G20/G37 sedans and coupes reported an 18% decrease but still finished 555 sales ahead of the Cadillac CTS. 

Mixed in with these cars are some midsize and/or more expensive luxury cars which you'll find in the table after the jump. Monthly and yearly sales figures for any of these cars, for any current model on sale in North America, can be found by accessing the dropdown menu at the top right of this page. 

Small/Entry Luxury Car	December  2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Acura CSX	73	- 75.5%	1795	- 13.0%
Acura TSX	338	+ 4.6%	1659	- 27.8%
Audi A3	66	+ 29.4%	1289	- 2.5%
Audi A4	262	+ 21.9%	5480	+ 5.2%
BMW 1-Series	63	- 1.6%	1556	- 11.8%
BMW 3-Series	742	- 39.5%	11,226	- 19.9%
Cadillac CTS	165	- 28.6%	3048	+ 2.5%
Infiniti G	248	- 24.2%	3603	- 18.3%
Lexus CT	136	-----	1350	-----
Lexus HS	12	- 70.7%	308	- 58.7%
Lexus IS	143	- 1.4%	2235	+ 0.1%
Mercedes-Benz B-Class	10	- 96.3%	2440	- 18.5%
Mercedes-Benz C-Class	946	+ 18.3%	9447	+ 16.8%
Saab 9-3	3	+ 50.0%	115	+ 5650%
Volvo C30	48	+ 71.4%	682	- 9.7%
Volvo S40	-----	-----	478	- 41.6%
Volvo V50	-----	-----	94	- 63.8%
Volvo S60	109	+ 304%	1519	+ 630%

December 2011 Midsize Lux Car Sales Chart
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Acura's RL is unbelievably unpopular. By that we mean, it's hard to believe that a luxury car with that much power and that much all-wheel drive technology can be so rarely acquired. Until, that is, you remember that we're talking about the Acura RL, one of the most boring cars in the world, a Bad 8 loser.

For every RL Acura sells in Canada, BMW sells 53 5-Series sedans or Gran Turismos. Well, probably not Gran Turismos; they don't really sell any of them, do they? 

Keep in mind, the 5-Series isn't the most popular car in the table below. Because Mercedes-Benz's Canadian sales data combines data for the S-Class and CL, for the G-Class and the GL, and for the E-Class and CLS-Class, Mercedes-Benz's 935-unit victory over the 5-Series is in question. After all, Audi sold 606 copies of their CLS fighter, the A7, so it's not hard to believe that with, say, 1000 CLS sales, the E-Class actually loses to the 5-Series. 

2011 Year End Midsize
Lux Car Sales Chart

If that were the case, both would lose to the much less expensive Acura TL. But here, again, there's a problem. The TL is really a better competitor for the (generally) smaller cars from the above list. It's base price is $39,490, $26,110 less than the base price of the 2012 E350 BlueTec, only $2790 more than the C250. However, the TL has 98 cubic feet of interior space, one more than the Audi A6 but 12.3 more than the Lexus IS350. 

Obviously you could easily make the case that many of these cars are nothing more than indirect competitors. The Hyundai Equus is priced like many of the cars listed below, badged like a mainstream car, and sized like a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The Volvo XC70 is, to many eyes, an SUV or crossover like its XC60 sibling. 

Regardless, sales figures don't lie. How the cars are lined up won't change that fact.

Midsize Luxury Car	December  2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Acura RL	6	- 70.0%	56	- 12.5%
Acura TL	437	+ 56.1%	3229	+ 11.5%
Audi A6	59	+ 157%	669	+ 12.2%
Audi A7	64	-----	606	-----
BMW 5-Series	241	- 19.4%	2963	+ 24.4%
Cadillac STS	-----	-----	13	- 71.7%
Hyundai Equus	6	-----	116	-----
Hyundai Genesis	51	+ 34.2%	816	+ 0.6%
Infiniti M	23	- 46.5%	408	- 25.8%
Jaguar XF	35	+ 119%	401	- 10.7%
Lexus ES	152	- 1.9%	1892	- 29.6%
Lexus GS	8	- 38.5%	128	- 49.0%
Lincoln MKS	26	- 42.2%	630	- 35.7%
Lincoln MKZ	48	- 32.4%	1500	+ 0.5%
Mercedes-Benz E & CLS-Class	338	+ 5.6%	3898	- 0.4%
Saab 9-5	3	-----	52	-----
Volvo S80	2	- 81.8%	321	- 11.1%
Volvo XC70	103	+ 47.1%	942	- 17.7%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Small/Entry & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - December & 2012 Year End
Small/Entry Luxury Car & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - January 2012
Small/Entry Luxury Cars & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - November 2011
Small/Entry Luxury Cars & Midsize Luxury Car Sales In Canada - 2010 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada - 2011 Year End
Luxury Auto Brand Market Share In Canada - 2011 Year End

Small Luxury SUV Sales And Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - December 2011 And 2011 Year End

2011 Small Lux SUV Sales Chart
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Little more than a decade ago, the vast majority of the luxury automakers shown in these tables and charts weren't building SUVs or crossovers. And if they were, the thought of developing multiple versions - one to compete with midsize luxury cars and another to rival their smallest sedans and wagons and maybe another to slot in between - was laughable. Fast forward to 2011 and these luxury utility vehicles were absolutely vital to the automakers' very existence. 

A simple examination of each brand reveals this to be true. With the new X1 competing for sales in Canada, BMW's SAV total ascended to 12,946 in 2011, 43.5% of BMW Canada sales, 2.5 times the total achieved by the whole Mini brand. 48.9% of BMW sales in December stemmed from the X family. The MDX and RDX are Acura's first and third-best-selling models. Acura's luxury utilities out-sold Acura cars by 1794 units in 2011. The Q5 and Q7 make up just 20% of Audi's nameplates but they accounted for 36% of Audi's sales in 2011. The Q5 was Audi's second-best-selling model. Cadillac SRX sales rose 9.6% in 2011 as Cadillac's smaller luxury SUV went from being the brand's second-ranked model to its biggest volume seller.

December 2011 Small
Lux SUV Sales Chart

Shall we go on? Volvo's XC60 was the brand's top-selling model. Along with the XC90, the two made up 38.5% of Volvo Canada's sales total. Without even considering the GL-Class, Mercedes-Benz's GLK and M-Class, two of the wide-ranging brand's four highest-volume models, made SUVs 32% of Benz's Canadian sales total. 42.2% of Infiniti sales in Canada in 2011 were luxury utilities, though the G20/G37 represents 51.9% of Infiniti's Canadian volume and clearly remains the brand's core model.

Care to continue? Read more on the subject of luxury SUV importance, along with more tables and charts, after the jump. You can also find monthly and yearly sales figures, both Canadian and American, by accessing the dropdown menu at the top right of this screen.

Small Luxury SUV	December  2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Acura RDX	352	+ 15.8%	3070	- 2.9%
Audi Q5	247	+ 65.8%	4502	+ 47.1%
BMW X1	313	-----	2980	-----
BMW X3	375	+ 421%	4671	+ 64.5%
Cadillac SRX	235	- 6.0%	3197	+ 9.6%
Infiniti EX	104	+ 35.1%	1521	- 21.0%
Land Rover LR2	33	+ 3.1%	343	- 19.5%
Land Rover Range Rover Evoque	150	-----	412	-----
Mercedes-Benz GLK	405	- 11.6%	5294	- 9.5%
Volvo XC60	174	- 2.8%	1865	+ 21.1%

December 2011 Midsize Lux SUV Sales Chart
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Lincoln's passenger car range has become so weak that the SUVs are more than just important or essential; they're pretty much all Lincoln has going for it in Canada. And by they we do mean it. The MKX accounted for 56.3% of all Lincoln Canada sales in 2011. Include the MKT and Navigator in the mix and Lincoln SUVs and crossovers out-sold Lincoln cars by 3282 units. 

December was a rough month for the inventory-limited Porsche Cayenne, as it was for all Porsches, but Porsche Canada had a tremendous year overall. The Cayenne is Porsche's best-selling model with 49.9% of all Porsche Canada sales. 50.6% of all Lexus sales are RX350s or RX450h hybrids.

2011 Year End Midsize Lux SUV Sales Chart

And then there's Land Rover where, get this, 100% of the brand's Canadian (and global) sales were SUVs. 

After just three months on sale, the Good 12-winning Range Rover Evoque quickly became the brand's fourth-ranked model, ahead of the LR2, and nearly surpassed the Range Rover. The Evoque, one of five Land Rover models, accounted for 40.9% of Land Rover sales in December.

Midsize Luxury SUV	December  2011	% Change	2011	YTD % Change
Acura MDX	333	- 26.0%	5334	- 11.0%
Acura ZDX	8	- 92.3%	129	- 85.1%
Audi Q7	75	- 30.6%	1565	+ 25.5%
BMW X5	310	- 17.1%	4155	+ 3.6%
BMW X6	85	+ 9.0%	1140	+ 12.1%
Infiniti FX	100	+ 37.0%	934	- 13.9%
Land Rover LR4	37	+ 27.6%	579	+ 10.9%
Land Rover Range Rover Sport	96	+ 6.7%	1475	+ 26.3%
Lexus GX	33	+ 3.1%	414	- 19.3%
Lexus RX	593	+ 39.5%	6760	- 8.4%
Lincoln MKT	53	- 3.6%	518	- 43.8%
Lincoln MKX	444	+ 5.2%	4595	+ 3.1%
Mercedes-Benz M-Class	449	- 7.6%	3846	- 0.6%
Porsche Cayenne	31	- 67.7%	1105	+ 31.7%
Volkswagen Touareg	110	+ 17.0%	1618	+ 129%
Volvo XC90	71	+ 1.4%	756	- 36.7%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Small And Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - December & 2012 Year End
Small Luxury SUV & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - January 2012
Small Luxury SUV & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - November 2011
Small Luxury SUV & Midsize Luxury SUV Sales In Canada - 2010 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Luxury Vehicles In Canada - 2011 Year End
Luxury Auto Brand Market Share In Canada - 2011 Year End

Are Americans Buying Fewer Trucks? Yes, Yes, And No

Too little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Here's what you've heard: pickup truck sales are on the rise in America. You also remembering hearing that, in 2009, full-size pickup truck sales had steadily fallen year after year since 2004. 

Clicking through truck sales figures by accessing the dropdown menu at the top right of this page is certainly informative, but it can be slightly misleading, as well. Yes, U.S. Ford F-Series sales fell each year from 2004 through 2009. Yes, Ford F-Series sales have increased both in 2010 and in 2011. Does this say something about the Ford F-Series or does it simply speak to the market as a whole?

America's six core full-size models, excluding the Chevrolet Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT and any Lincoln entry, found 2,456,656 buyers in 2004 and just 1,117,706 buyers in 2009. It's hard to believe that pickup truck popularity died off that much relative to the popularity of passenger cars or SUVs or crossovers. In fact, during that period in which sales of those six trucks collectively dropped 54.5%, America's new vehicle market plunged 38.3%. Though the full-size truck market admittedly became less popular, sales weren't simply cut in half. America's new vehicle market was a much smaller playing field. Those six trucks were fighting for a slice of shrinking pie.

Nevertheless, the second chart in this post makes very clear that when the market shrunk, the market for America's six full-size offerings caved more precipitously. Those six trucks accounted for 14.5% of the overall new vehicle market in 2004 but just 10.7% in 2004. And now that the market has started to grow again - up to 11.6 million sales in 2010 and 12.8 million sales in 2011 - trucks are playing a larger role once again. The F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, Dodge Ram, GMC Sierra, Nissan Titan, and Toyota Tundra accounted for 11.6% of the new vehicle market in 2010 and 11.7% in 2011.

All of this is explained by the two charts GoodCarBadCar compiled and inserted below. But it's not explained by simply scanning the sales figures for one vehicle and assuming the worst, or the best.

Click Either Chart For A Larger View

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Trucks In America - 2011 Year End
Complete U.S. Truck Sales Chart - 2011 Year End
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - 2011 Year End
Auto Brand Market Share In America - 2011 Year End