What makes a car a “luxury” car? For generations, the definition held clear. Luxury cars had high price tags, interiors lined with wood and leather, powerful engines with eight or 12 or even 16 cylinders, and often enough, fewer seats rather than more. But in a universe of vehicles with so many choices in brands, powertrains, body styles, and features, today’s luxury vehicles can be SUVs with synthetic leather interiors, hatchbacks with electric drivetrains, or even top-of-the-line vehicles from nameplates that until recently only sold affordable economy vehicles.
Many of the luxury brands from the past endure today: Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln, Porsche, Bentley, Rolls-Royce. But they’ve been joined by a string of upstarts, from Toyota’s Lexus division to Hyundai’s fledgling Genesis lineup. Most would even include Tesla as a luxury brand, though the prices of its vehicles and the relatively austere interiors don’t mark it as such: the name relies on its cutting-edge cachet to pull away buyers from those other marques. Tesla, better than any other badge, shows how much the idea of luxury has changed.
What about features? It’s become even less clear as to which features count as luxury touches, now that touchscreens, leather, carbon-fiber trim, and rafts of technology from adaptive cruise control to wireless smartphone integration can be had on the least expensive new cars sold today.
Powertrains no longer decode cars as luxury, either. Some of the more prosaic gas-engined vehicles produce more horsepower than $100,000 sports cars. Propulsion tastes are changing to the point where some of the costliest cars on the planet now have plug-in or all-battery drivetrains: see the Rolls-Royce Spectre.
What is a luxury car then? We define it as a vehicle that costs more than the average transaction price of a new car in the U.S., and is also one with distinction in features, performance, or even customer service.
In the next two years, Audi plans to launch 20 new models globally. About 15 of those models will be sold in North America. No other luxury automaker has such an intense product launch, and it's fueled by two new platforms. The Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) builds out vehicles powered by more...Read More»
More than many other brand, Jaguar finds itself in the crosshairs of its transition to electric vehicles. Only one model remains for the 2025 model year, which is also the English brand's 90th birthday. Technically, it still sells leftover F-Type sports cars, discontinued I-Pace electric...Read More»
It's finally happened. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto has been introduced on some 2025 Genesis models. Also new in 2025, the launch of the Magma performance sub-brand arrives on the GV60 electric hatchback. Genesis intends it to rival the luxury performance arms, such as Mercedes-AMG...Read More»
The midsize SUV is the default hauler for many American families, even among luxury vehicles. Two- and three-row crossovers offer plenty of interior room and comfort to go with their leather seats, high-end audio, and touchscreen infotainment. Two of the most popular luxury SUVs are built in North...Read More»
Both the2024 Cadillac Escalade and the 2024 Lincoln Navigator have a long history of satisfying luxury-SUV drivers. The Navigator emerged in 1998; the Escalade, the next model year. Since then, both full-size sport-utility vehicles have evolved from their truck-based roots to become legitimate...Read More»
The midsize sedan isn’t the default family hauler anymore, but it’s still a pleasant means of transportation for singles or the family, especially when it comes from a luxury brand. Midsize cars don’t have the space of SUVs, but they’re more fun to drive, more efficient, and...Read More»
I appreciated the 2023 Lucid Air Touring more each time I drove it. The luxury sedan made me feel special, about my place in the world while moving through it, and also as a respite from that world. A luxury car should rouse those feelings, especially for $128,550 as tested ($109,050 without...Read More»
The 2023 Genesis GV60 has earned a Top Safety Pick+, the IIHS announced Thursday. The TSP+ is the highest safety rating issued by the insurance-industry funded agency. The nod marks a rare sweep for the brand, with every model tested in 2022 earning the designation intended to standardized safety...Read More»
The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 charts a new course for a brand that helped pioneer the internal combustion engine 140 years ago. Evolving from the ethos of the S-Class, the German luxury brand’s flagship sedan, the EQS electric flagship points the tri-star forward with more efficient...Read More»
The bold and the beautiful still airs on the 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLS 450. With all the style and none of the drama of a certain soap opera, the seven-seat SUV formerly known as the GL has been giving luxury car shoppers a full-size option since 2006. The GLS-Class fends off relative upstarts such as...Read More»
The Cadillac XT6 has a problem: It’s a lackluster crossover SUV in a cutthroat premium segment that includes the lounge-like Lincoln Aviator and gorgeous Volvo XC90. Despite being a milquetoast option, the three-row SUV still has some surprising details that ever so slightly redeem it for...Read More»
As the bestselling models for their brands, the Acura MDX and Infiniti QX60 represent the most important makeovers for 2022. The redesigned three-row SUVs carry a fresh look, a more versatile interior, and more standard technology, yet the engines from the previous year remain with no hybrid...Read More»
With the 2022 Genesis GV70, the luxury division of Hyundai has a bullseye circled around the Audi Q5, BMW X3, Mercede-Benz GLC-Class, and even the Acura RDX. It's landed right on target—mostly. With a TCC Rating of 7.6 out of 10, the 2022 GV70 delivers a value with a gorgeous package...Read More»
Reputations are a hard thing to build and an even harder thing to shake. When the Lexus NX arrived in 2014, the compact crossover was intended to bring some youthful swagger to a brand favored by a quieter, comfier, stay-off-my-lawn kinda owner. Though a strong seller, the technology tried...Read More»
The 2022 Genesis GV70 luxury compact crossover and G70 luxury compact sedan both earned Top Safety Pick+ awards from the IIHS, the insurance-industry funded safety agency announced on Thursday. A Top Safety Pick+ is considered to be the most rigorous safety recognition in the industry, and vehicles...Read More»
It took more than two decades, but Cadillac finally created one of the best luxury family haulers money can buy. With leather-lined seating for up to eight people, over 38 inches of curved OLED screens on the dashboard, and the ability to drive itself over thousands of miles on certain divided...Read More»
Every 2021 Volvo model earned a Top Safety Pick+ award, the automaker announced Thursday. The 2021 XC40 Recharge small electric crossover completed the sweep of coveted safety awards. A TSP+ award from the IIHS is considered the most rigorous safety honor in the industry, and reflects a vehicle's...Read More»
The 2021 Lincoln Nautilus has finally come around. The refreshed interior finally shed the vestiges of its MKX skin with an interior befitting Lincoln’s upward class mobility. This poses a problem for me. My dad likes Lincolns. Even since the Town Cars of our youth, my brother and I have...Read More»
The 2021 Genesis GV80 earned the highest honor from the IIHS, who gave the new luxury SUV a Top Safety Pick+ distinction on Thursday. The non-profit agency funded by the insurance industry cited "Good" results in all six crash tests, and said its standard automatic emergency braking system earned...Read More»
