The premium midsized car segment is up 8% in the first three quarters of 2015, boosted by updated models and a new entrant to the segment. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class has been the best selling premium midsized car all year and isn’t likely to hand over that title by the end of the year. In fact, it has only strengthened its lead over the BMW 3-series, which was outsold by the Audi A4 in Q3, even though the Audi was in the middle of a model changeover to the new generation. The gap between the two is about 6.600 units, so I don’t think the A4 can close that gap in the next three months. But for 2016, the 3-series is in serious trouble.
Meanwhile, the BMW 4-series is still going strong, up 18% in Q3 and 44% for the year so far, leaving the Audi A5 more than 20.000 units behind. The Volvo S60/V60 sits in between, with sales down 10% in the third quarter and -7% year-to-date. The Jaguar XE is still off to a relatively slow start, with less than 10.000 units in 4 full months of sales. It was artificially boosted to 3.777 units in September on traditionally strong overall sales in its home market UK. We’ll have to wait and see if the XE manages to break through in the last three months of the year. It has passed the DS5 and Volkswagen CC, though, with the latter dropping two spots from its first half rank after losing 45% of its volume in Q3 and -33% so far this year. The Lexus IS is also losing ground, while its coupe sibling RC isn’t finding many buyers in Europe with an average of less than 25 sales a month in Q3.
2015 January – September midsized premium car sales Europe
| Premium midsized car segment | Jan-Sep 2015 | Jan-Sep 2014 | Change | |
| 1. | Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 135.122 | 95.366 | 42% |
| 2. | BMW 3-series | 106.440 | 131.034 | -19% |
| 3. | Audi A4 / S4 / RS4 | 99.777 | 95.549 | 4% |
| 4. | BMW 4-series | 56.708 | 39.349 | 44% |
| 5. | Volvo S60/V60 | 37.624 | 40.295 | -7% |
| 6. | Audi A5 / S5 / RS5 | 36.044 | 37.848 | -5% |
| 7. | Jaguar XE | 9.912 | 0 | New |
| 8. | DS5 | 8.783 | 9.758 | -10% |
| 9. | Volkswagen CC | 8.425 | 12.518 | -33% |
| 10. | Lexus IS | 5.953 | 7.871 | -24% |
| 11. | Infiniti Q50 | 2.308 | 1.847 | 25% |
| 12. | Lexus RC | 312 | 0 | New |
| Segment total | 507.408 | 471.446 | 8% |
Also check out the 2015-H1 premium mid-sized car segment in the United States.
Click on any model to see its annual sales from 1997-2014 and monthly sales in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, or use the dropdown menu in the top right of this site. Sources: Manufacturers, ANDC, JATO Dynamics.