Cars - Luxury vehicles

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	Cars - Luxury vehicles

A luxury vehicle is a vehicle which provides a great abundance of ease and comfort. Although there can be a great range of "vehicles" that offer luxurious settings, a true luxury car will be a car (sedan, coupè, hatchback, station wagon, roadster, etc.), a light truck (light pickup trucks), or an SUV. Luxury vehicles place more emphasis on comfort, appearance, and amenities than on performance, economy, or utility. Furthermore, they usually offer more modern technology, higher quality materials, and are often built in smaller numbers than more affordable mass-market vehicles.

General definition (for American cars)

While a luxury car is difficult to define as it is somewhat subjective, there are certain guidelines by which the luxury cars are defined. Currently, that means its Mean Selling Price (MSP) is excess of roughly US$36,000 or higher. In addition to being relatively expensive, luxury cars also offer a higher degree of comfort than their mainstream counterparts as well as a highly sumptous interior with a strong emphasis on design and beauty.

A vehicle may still be considered an entry-level luxury vehicle if its base MSP is in the general range of $29,000 and $36,000, it features a strong emphasis on comfort, and it is manufactured by a luxury car maker. Luxury car makers are companies which produce cars at approximate price of $36,000. In order for a vehiclemade by a non-luxury marque to be considered a luxury car, it should have a base MSP of roughly $36k.

In addition to featuring a high base price and high levels of comfort luxury, cars typically carry prestige. Although this cannot be measured in finite quantities, "prestige" usually refers to the allure which the car carries. From prestige, people get the idea of "paying for the emblem". For example, because of its prestige, the BMW 3 Series might cost more than if the same car if it was sold under a non-luxury marque. Also, it is important to note, that in no way are all prestige cars actually luxury cars (e.g. the Dodge Viper is certainly not a luxury car).

Non-luxury prestige vehicles

In the car market of the new millenium, it has become rather difficult to determine whether a vehicle is indeed a luxury car or not. Many vehicles such as the GMC Yukon or the Chevrolet Suburban fit the price criteria to be considered luxury vehicles, yet they do not have many of the amenities of other luxury vehicles.

There are quite a few vehicles who have luxury car-like prestige and/or pricing but do not offer the degree of comfort required for them to actually be considered luxury vehicles; these vehicles include the Hummer H1, the Chevrolet Corvette and the Dodge Viper. All three vehicles have base MSPs of above $36,000 and the Hummer H1 is made by a company whose entire lineup, with exception of the Hummer H3, features base MSPs in excess of $50,000. Yet all three lack the comfort needed to make them luxury vehicles. Further, many non-luxury prestige vehicles with über-high prices, such as the Porsche 911 and many Lamborghinis are often mistaken as luxury vehicles, however in comparison to the other luxury cars (even in the mid-luxury segment) they are not luxury vehicles.

Other vehicles, such as the Mercury Grand Marquis, are not considered to be luxury vehicles due to their relatively low MSPs, despite their high degree of comfort.

Luxury market segments (for American cars)

Note that the following classifications of cars does not include certain packages that come with the car that might raise the car into a higher level. For example, the average BMW 3 Series
sells in the "entry level" category. But the M3 is certainly part of the mid-level category. Also, vehicles such as the Lincoln Town Car
or Cadillac DTS
feature interiors as plush and luxurious as those of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class
or BMW 7 Series
, yet are classified as mid-luxury due to their relatively low MSPs.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Luxury vehicles ]

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