The premium large car segment in Europe is in dire straits with a loss of 6% in 2016 but a more painful -13% in Q4. Only one model in the top-10 manages to improve its volume: the new leader Mercedes-Benz E-Class, helped by the new generation. The E-Class was up 17% for the year and an even more impressive 32% in Q4. To be fair, this includes sales of the coupe version, which Audi doesn’t offer in this class and BMW has split off from the 5-Series as the 6-Series. The Audi A6 and BMW 5-series are actually impressively stable considering their age compared to the fresh E-Class. The A6 was down just 2% (-10% in Q4) and its new generation isn’t expected until 2018, while the 5-Series lost 8% (-2% in Q4) while the new generation had already been revealed and has entered showrooms early 2017.
Note: clicking on the model name opens the sales data page for that model; clicking year in the legend turns the display for that year on/off
Volvo has taken a big hit this year with the very slow changeover from the S80/V70/XC70 to the new S90/V90. The former are down by more than 20.000 units as sales have all but come to a halt in Q4, while the latter only managed 3.716 sales, of which just 1.968 in the last quarter. Of course sales will pick up again in 2017 as the 90-Series has enough qualities to help the Swedish brand gain ground on the Germans, but it’s striking how Audi manages to keep sales of its models so stable during a changeover while Volvo clearly took a big hit in 2016. The Jaguar XF held on to the #5 spot with almost stable sales as it was renewed in 2015. In fact, the XF improved 23% in the fourth quarter of 2016, because the new generation was just in start-up mode in that same period a year earlier.
The Tesla Model S loses almost a quarter of its volume in 2016, and is down a harsh 48% in Q4, as it feels some internal competition from the new Model X SUV. It does manage to hold on to 6th place, because the Audi A7, Mercedes-Benz CLS and BMW 6-series also lose double digit volume, the CLS the most at -38%. The Italian player of the segment Maserati Ghibli is down 11% for the year but down 27% in Q4. The only other winner besides the E-Class is the Lexus GS at +47% for the year and +68% in Q4.
In 2017 Jaguar will already update the XF again after criticism of its interior quality, and it will combine this with the introduction of the second generation XF Sportbrake. Mercedes-Benz will expand the E-Class family with a new coupe and convertible, so it could hold on to the segment lead with those two versions included. The next generation 5-Series Gran Turismo will be renamed to 6-Series Gran Turismo
Also check out the premium large car segment in the US, where the Lexus ES is still the commanding leader and the Tesla Model S has moved up to 4th place.
| Premium large car segment | 2016 | 2015 | Change | |
| 1 | Mercedes-Benz E-Class | 99.494 | 84.771 | 17% |
| 2 | Audi A6 / S6 / RS6 / Allroad | 93.479 | 95.329 | -2% |
| 3 | BMW 5-series | 81.599 | 88.898 | -8% |
| 4 | Volvo V70 / XC70 | 30.436 | 49.263 | -38% |
| 5 | Jaguar XF | 16.024 | 16.416 | -2% |
| 6 | Tesla Model S | 11.564 | 15.169 | -24% |
| 7 | Audi A7 / S7 / RS7 | 9.120 | 10.196 | -11% |
| 8 | Mercedes-Benz CLS | 7.803 | 12.600 | -38% |
| 9 | BMW 6-series | 5.732 | 7.370 | -22% |
| 10 | Maserati Ghibli | 4.124 | 4.644 | -11% |
| 11 | Volvo S90/V90 | 3.716 | 0 | New |
| 12 | Lexus GS | 2.023 | 1.373 | 47% |
| 13 | Volvo S80 | 849 | 2.329 | -64% |
| 14 | Infiniti Q70 | 484 | 560 | -14% |
| 15 | Hyundai Genesis | 131 | 228 | -43% |
| 16 | Lancia Thema / Chrysler 300C | 25 | 38 | -34% |
| Segment total | 366.603 | 389.184 | -6% |
Click on any model to see its annual sales from 1997-2016 and monthly sales from 2012 to 2016, or use the dropdown menu in the top right of this site.
Car sales statistics are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
Sources: Manufacturers, ANDC, JATO Dynamics.