When most people think of luxury automotive brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Lexus they probably picture a stately-looking sedan. However, while Canadians are buying record numbers of vehicles from these four best-selling premium auto brands in the country, a surprisingly small number of those vehicles are cars.

Increasingly, even premium automakers are relying on SUVs and crossovers for a large chunk of their volume – 43% at Mercedes-Benz, 44% at BMW, 48% at Audi and a whopping 61% at Lexus.

So which luxury cars are still selling well? These are the best-selling premium brand cars in Canada through the first seven months of 2015. And guess what? The usual best-seller, the BMW 3 Series is not currently topping the list.

8. Lexus IS: July 2015 YTD Sales - 2,060 (down 12%)

Perhaps we shouldn’t pay too much attention to the IS’s sharp decline in 2015 without considering the impact of the new Lexus RC, which is to some degree an IS coupe. Combined, the pair would be up 9% to 2,554 units over last year’s IS sales. Together, they account for more than half of the Lexus brand’s car volume in Canada.

7. Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class: July 2015 YTD Sales - 2,257 (up 7.5%)

Concerns that a lower-priced, front-wheel-drive, entry-level car would lower the Mercedes-Benz brand’s image in the world haven’t been validated in the Canadian market. For one thing, Mercedes-Benz was already selling the B-Class here. For another, the CLA has style – like it or hate it – on its side. Finally, Mercedes-Benz is selling more new vehicles in Canada now than ever before.

6. Audi A3: July 2015 YTD Sales: 2,367 (up 150%)

Audi Canada’s second-generation A3 is a far more effective entry point to the Audi brand than the first A3 hatchback ever was. In only nine months last year, for instance, Audi sold more A3s than in any previous full calendar year. 2015 is significantly more healthy than that, with Audi set to sell more A3s in the first eight months of 2015 than in nine months it was on sale 2014.

5. Acura TLX: July 2015 YTD Sales: 2,931 (change N/A)

Honda Canada is on track to sell approximately 5,000 copies of the Acura TLX in 2015. The last time its TL predecessor surpassed that mark was 2005. Then again, the TLX was also tasked with replacing the TSX, which had nearly 4,000 Canadian sales in 2005. The TLX is, however, outperforming the TL/TSX’s more recent performance – together they only attracted 3,353 buyers in all of 2013.

4. BMW 4 Series: July 2015 YTD Sales: 3147 (up 79.7%)

BMW’s 3 Series offspring, the 4 Series, is a mighty popular car in its own right. Or should we say, cars, plural? The 4 Series nameplate takes into account a coupe, convertible, and Gran Coupe, the latter being a four-door hatchback. Combined sales of the 3 Series and 4 Series are up 20% to 8487 so far this year, equal to 42% of BMW’s overall Canadian sales tally.

3. Audi A4: July 2015 YTD Sales: 3,362 (down 3.9%)

Set to be replaced for the 2016 model year by a visually similar A4, the outgoing model has suffered modest Canadian sales declines in each of the last two years and is falling this year, as well. Yet the A4 remains a popular car, as evidenced by its third-place ranking on this list. 41% of Audi’s Canadian passenger car sales are A4-derived.

2. BMW 3 Series: July 2015 YTD Sales: 5,340 (down 0.2%)

Truthfully, the 3 Series lineup is much smaller than it once was. Until the fourth-quarter of 2013, two-door versions of the car also operated under the 3 Series banner. But those are now called 4 Series cars, and that separate nameplate ranks fourth on this list. The 3 Series is the perennial year-end leader among Canadian luxury cars, and it began eating into the top-ranked C-Class’s lead in July. The 3 Series ranked first last month, outselling its Benz rival by 101 units.

1. Mercedes-Benz C-Class: July 2015 YTD Sales: 6,269 (up 65.3%)

Canadian sales of the C-Class, once the company’s entry-level model but now the fourth rung up the ladder, peaked at 10,616 units in calendar year 2012. Mercedes-Benz should be able to top that in 2015, and if not, there’s more hope for 2016. The coupe version of this latest generation C-Class debuted in August, and should provide a boost to what is currently Canada’s best-selling luxury car nameplate next year.

The full list of Canada’s 25 best-selling premium vehicles so far this year can be found at Autofocus.ca.