The rise of the small luxury crossover is undeniable, not just based on the most recent evidence available. U.S. sales of premium brand small utility vehicles rose 17.9% to 23,776 units in November 2014, an increase of 3615 units compared with November 2013. Much of that improvement was powered by the smallest of small luxury brand crossovers: the Audi Q3, BMW X1, and Mercedes-Benz GLA, sales of which grew to 4963 units from the 2364 generated by the X1 a year ago.
Up a notch in size/price/prestige, the Acura RDX-led category (which was topped by the Audi Q5 in each of the last three months) was up just 5.7% in November 2014, not hugely superior to the gains made by the overall industry, which rose 4.6%. But this class of SUV/crossover is up 17.8% over the span of the last eleven months. Combined with the aforementioned trio of underlings, they’ve grown 17.7% to 222,844 units.
Clearly, this is a growth market with untapped potential. These are the ess-you-vees of tomorrow, despite lacking (for the most part) off-road credentials, significant ride height, or superior utility compared with conventional, nearly nonexistent small wagons.
Skewed by the freshness of the small luxury crossover idea and the inherent eye-catching nature of new product entrants, your eyes tell you that these vehicles are popping up on every street corner with alarming frequency, but their four top-selling big brothers are still selling more often.
More often than all the small luxury crossovers combined. In November, the Mercedes-Benz M-Class enjoyed its best month since December 2011 with 5190 sales, 1006 more than the figure generated by the top-selling small luxury crossover, the Audi Q5. But the M-Class was by no means the top-selling premium brand utility vehicle. Acura sold 5210 copies of their MDX. Lexus, during a month in which the NX debuted with its first late-in-the-month 22 sales, sold 9592 RXs in November. Throw in the BMW X5 and we have a total of 24,549 sales, 773 more than the total achieved by 15 different small luxury crossovers: RDX, Q3, Q5, X1, X3, X4, QX50, LR2, Evoque, NX, MKC, GLA, GLK, Macan, and XC60.
Through the first eleven months of 2014, the larger quartet (up just 1% in November) is up 7.3% to 234,741 units. The smaller roster is up 17.7% to 222,844 units, powered forward by new additions like the Q3, X4, MKC, GLA, and Macan.
The long-established RX has historically not been much larger or much more expensive than the “traditional” small players – it’s only 5.2 inches longer than the Audi Q5 and its base price is only 5.3% higher at this moment – but it offers far greater cargo capacity than the Audi. On the same note, the Cadillac SRX (which trailed the M-Class and X5 in November but leads both Germans through eleven months) is only a half-foot longer than the BMW X3. But the SRX comes standard with a 308-horsepower V6, while four-cylinder turbos are the norm in the smaller group.
Regardless of whether the dimensional differences are modest or massive, we have an established group which has slowed considerably and an ankle-biting group full of relative newbies capable of grabbing attention. The newcomers are surging, but they’re not yet as popular. Not nearly as popular, in fact, as we haven’t even taken into account a flock of extras which add a large number of sales to the larger institution. The Audi Q7, Infiniti QX60, Land Rover Range Rover Sport, Lexus GX, Lincoln MKX, and Porsche Cayenne combined for another 11,089 November sales.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.
Wow, the SRX is number three? I never would have guessed this aging Cadillac was that popular
I like the SRX. My wife was considering one, but you’re right….it’s been around awhile. Not sure if I should be nervous about the next generation on that one. Cadillac seems to be pushing the envelope on dramatic creases.
Cadillac sold 51,094 SRX sales in 2010 when this new model properly began its tenure. Sales increased 11% in 2011, grew 1% to peak year of 57,485 units in 2012, slid slightly (1%) to 56,776 last year. SRX volume was up 20% through the first half of 2014 (28,864 units through June) but YOY volume over the last 5 months is down 26%, a loss of 6897 sales since July.
I always likened this segment to all-season tires. Good all around, but great at nothing. I really don’t have issue with the segment at all. My choice would be the Porsche Macan, but too new to make this list.
That Lexus NX has a face that only a mother could love.
I still want one for my wife
An origami gone mad.
Ask my wife about this segment and you’ll understand why they sell — it’s about perception. These are relatively small, practical, and economical vehicles that don’t scream “cheap” or “nerdy” to the masses. Wagons are seen by the public as old and/or weird, while non-lifted hatchbacks — even premium ones — still carry a stigma of cheapness. None of those applies to pretty much any crossover, whether luxury-branded or not. It’s a safe vehicle choice that doesn’t offend anyone or require any explanation.
Just think of the engineers who put sweat equity into creating the package. All that work, and sales are at the mercy of female social standing.
Or, in the case of cartoonishly giant and chromey trucks, male social standing.
I think both points are comical since I would imagine “social status” is factored in when designing a new vehicle. After all isn’t “image” a major advertising point of most automobiles?
The rural/land owner folks, as well as blue-collar management, drive Suburbans (and Tahoes).
The inner-city successful folks drive Escalades.
The educated conservatives that which live in the suburbs in good school districts drive Yukons.
Ahhhh… this was fun.
And you’re welcome!
EDIT: Please don’t tell me about your argumentative Uncle Vito. We all know he lives in New Jersey and wears a huge gold chain, but that he is NOT ghetto, even though he drives an Escalade.
Uncle Vito is just NOKD
Uncle Vito is nobody’s kind. That’s why he still lives with Mom.
Hey, he drives an Escalade and lives with mom, compromises had to be made
Priorities.
I thought Vito had an IROC?
Vito had to get an Escalade, mama couldn’t fit in the IROC anymore, she’s a good cook
That IROC’s under a tarp.
Why get rid of it, it’s worth at least $1K.
I would tend to agree about Vito, But recently the Escalade seems popular with the well heeled rich folk here in CT. When it first came out it was popular with well to do contractors. Then it moved to well rap video status. Now it seems popular in Devonwood again.
http://www.randallrealtors.com/s/CT/farmington/devonwood-subdivision
Seems they are in again with CEO wives driving to the ski house in VT, of course they have a E class or 5 series to drive every day.
This entire article utterly (and somewhat confusingly) ignores tiny elephant in the room: the fourth-most popular premium CUV after the RX, MDX and SRX, and the smallest by far…The Buick Encore.
And YES, despite its size and underpinnings, the Buick Encore IS a luxury crossover by a luxury automaker, because that’s how both the brand and the model are marketed and sold, and have thrived, to the tune of 45,970 YTD sales.
Perhaps VW should buy Buick to get off the dime on crossovers?
I was wondering about Buick’s absence too. Saw my first Encore last week, not a bad looking little CUV.
What constitutes “luxury” or “premium” could be discussed and debated and challenged forever, but in the Encore’s case, a base price below $25,000 makes for a tougher like-for-like comparison when the next-most-affordable vehicle in the comparison costs 27%, produces 74% more power, and offers 16% more cargo capacity.
That doesn’t need to stop an Encore buyer from believing it’s luxurious. (I once had a Malibu owner berate me for not considering their car a “premium” challenger for upmarket brands: “It has heated leather seats!”) Consumers get to make these purchase decisions by themselves with the use of their own definition. But linking the Encore’s U.S. sales performance too closely to vehicles with significantly higher price points and superior performance credentials is surely at least equally unrighteous. The Encore has carved out a fair niche for itself, but it requires a big leap to get to the vehicles mentioned in this post.
I get that; the Encore would be the cheapest, least powerful, and least spacious CUV here.
But if we’re going by objective metrics like base price, power, and cargo space, how does one explain how the Enclave was left off the list while the MKX and MDX made it on?
I understand Buick’s (and GMC’s) exclusion is partly their own fault for occupying the nebulous space between Chevy and Cadillac. Heck, even their latest (silly) ads have people unable to locate Buicks by the way they look!
Still I don’t think either brand should be kept off the premium ladder altogether simply because they’re at or near the lowest rung.
Rather than upscale trim levels of mainstream marques, they are clearly upmarket in nature.
Excluding them from the conversation altogether results in an incomplete and inaccurate picture of the premium vehicle continuum, IMO.
The Buick models are listed at the bottom. If you included Buick’s upscale trim versions of GM’s hum-drum SUVs, the total would rival Lexus for the lead, and we can’t have THAT, can we?
I think the problem here is defining what “small” means. We go from the tiny Buick Encore to the rather large tree rows of seating Acura MDX. There’s obviously a lot of overlapping and the definitions are pretty much left up to the individual
“three” rows of seating
I liked “tree”. Any vehicle that can seat large trees in comfort has my unqualified respect.
Judging by your avatar I can see where that might appeal to you
I saw an Lincoln MKC the other day on I40, that is a really good looking vehicle. This Luxury Small SUV category will grow very rapidly I predict.
Was Matthew McConaughey driving it? Or maybe some other celebrity parodying him?
Meantime, over here in Bugtussle where the little people sweat and grunt through our self-absorbed, comic lives, I seen me a breathtaking example of what I’m gonna call luxury yesterday.
A simple, cockroach-common CR-V that must have been on its maiden way home from the dealership flashed by the rest of us chalk & mud plastered lumpen in a limousine black that was virtually steaming with newness and posh.
It was like seeing a Bösendorfer Imperial Grand in the furniture section of a Goodwill store, such was its contrast to the rest of our thoroughly slushed-up cars be they Accura or Astra.
I’ve never much cared for the current CR-V or black paint before, but for my personal rut on this planet, *that* was luxurious. Any more luxury for me and I’d get diarrhea.
A Bösendorfer? Sounds too bimmerish for a Honda. Are you sure it didn’t look a little more Nipponese like say a Kawai? Don’t let the dazzle get to you sir, new cars always look best in the nasty northern winter. Next winter that baby grand will look the same as yours
Stop harshing my simpleton’s joy.
Go get your car washed, you’ll feel better