What Are The Top 6 Luxury Brands?

bigo08

To me the top 6 lux brands are... Mercedes.BWW.Jaguar.Cadillac.Lincoln.Infiniti and Lexus.

Rank them from best to worst.

rockylee

Here's my Top 6 :shades:

#1 Cadillac
#2 Buick
#3 Saab
#4 Volvo
#5 Lincoln
#6 Hyundai

-Rocky

anythngbutgm

at Rocky's list, here's my list

Bentley
Maybach/Mercedes
Maserati
Audi
BMW
Lexus

...Infiniti
...Acura
...Volvo
...VW

lemko

#1 Cadillac
#2 Lexus
#3 Mercedes
#4 BMW
#5 Lincoln
#6 Buick

displacedtexan

...on what "luxury" means to someone. Cushy ride and opulent interiors? Sharp handling? Latest technology and gadgets? Loads of room? If engaging handling and style is important, then Lexus may or not make the list depending on model, but BMW does. However, if a nice ride and latest technology is important, then Lexus does make the list, and BMW might be out. Actually, BMW might be out just because of the iDrive.

Is money going to be a determinant in this thread, or can we pretend we're an oil sheik?

"Luxury" changes depending on my mood. Some days I want the handling and interior of a BMW. Other days I want the luxo-boat living room of a Cadillac DTS.

anythngbutgm

performance. A brand that "As a whole" brings top notch interior design and mat'ls, gadgetology, amenities, build quality, panache, etc.. Heck if performance were the critieria alone, I'd be throwing in Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche but I wouldn't call a Ferrari a luxury car...

I get a chuckle out of seeing SAAB and Buick as top 6 luxury brands. Saab has about as much cache as EAGLE. And if the CTS were the definition of Caddy well quality... then a 14 thousand dollar Kia Spectra is a luxury car.

lol, we all have our choices though. :shades:

rockylee

anythingbutgm, your making me feel bad enough I'll revise it just for you.

#1 Cadillac
#2 Saab
#3 Buick
#4 Holden
#5 GMC Denali
#6 Hummer
#7 Opel
#8 Pontiac
#9 Chevrolet

GIGANTIC GAP

#10 Geely
#11 Chery
#12 Brickland

Small Gap

#13 Hyundai

big gap

#14 Lincoln
#15 Acura
#16 Lexus
#17 Mercedes
#18 Infiniti
#19 Audi
#20 Aston Martin

-Rocky

xrunner2

No guidance given, so had to look in dictionary.

Luxury - the use and enjoyment of the best and most costly things that offer the most physical comfort and satisfaction.

Rolls Royce
Bentley
Maybach
Mercedes (top end model, most expensive)
Lexus (top end model, most expensive)

Folks buying these cars should have the ability to write a check (or have their accountant do) for the full amount of purchase and not quibble about the price. Also, they should not even have to go to the showroom to audition the car nor be concerned about spending their own time on mundane matters such as servicing.

anythngbutgm

Meh, I don't think Rolls is up there any more. Sure they are super "luxed-out" but I don't think the brand has the cache it used to. Kinda got too comfortable with their position. Besides, who actually drives a Rolls anyways? Usually you are driven around in those.

Well it is above Rocky's selections at least. :P

rockylee

I hope you know I was only kidding on my line-up....

-Rocky

lemko

1. Cadillac
2. Buick
3. Chrysler
4. Lexus
5. Lincoln
6. Mercedes-Benz

louiswei

Whoever came up with this title is making this awfully hard. Since currently in the luxury market there are 7 major players (not including the niche manufactures), so to name 6 that means one has to be left out. Anyway, here are my lists...

LUXURY ORIENTED luxury brands:

1. MB
2. Lexus
3. BMW
4. Cadillac
5. Audi
6. Acura

PERFORMANCE ORIENTED luxury brands:

1. BMW
2. Infiniti
3. Audi
4. MB
5. Acura
6. Lexus

lemko

...aren't even on my list even if I could afford them. Buying one is like marrying a Vegas showgirl. She may be hot, a lot of fun, and make your friends envious of you, but they are impractical, unreliable, and will take you for all they can.

anythngbutgm

Yeah, I figured that. lol

rockylee

#1 Cadillac
#2 Acura
#3 Audi
#4 Lexus
#5 Mercedes/Maybach
#6 BMW

displacedtexan

My "realistic - I'm not an oil sheik" list might be pretty close to rockylee's last list (post #15) except that I might sub Volvo for Acura, just b/c I don't like Acura's interior styling, take all or nothing packaging, or our local dealership.

Sad to say that Lincoln isn't a player, anymore.

ryan77300d

1- Mercedes
2- Lexus
3- BMW
4- Audi/VW
5- Aston Martin
6- Infinity

goodegg

Different strokes - Acura's loaded concept works for me. You're probably the only person I've ever seen on these boards that knocks Acura's interior. They're one of the best in the business. Lincoln? A Ford interior? Ouch.

tlong

I'm going to limit myself to "mainstream" luxury brands:

Qualifiers
- this is what luxury means to me
- I'm not factoring in reliability

1 - MB
2 - Lexus
3 - Audi
4 - BMW
5 - Acura
6 - Caddy

grylexis300

1 Cadillac
#2 Acura
#3 Audi
#4 Lexus
#5 Mercedes/Maybach
#6 BMW

how in the world does cadillac make it to the top???? they don't have a single car that has ever finished higher than a lexus in just about any comparo in my memory. holy smokes this is absolutely absurd. i know, cadillac CTS was in bad boys II and matrix reloaded so i guess i has to be at the top.

oh my goodness.

let's approach this how consumer reports would approach this. hands down, lexus has the most recommended cars on this planet and every bell and whistle available on their cars. not to mention the air conditioner and stereo systems in lexus vehicles are really top notch. they can only be matched not surpassed in any possible way. even the air con in an IS300 can kick the daylights out of any 3 series aircon including the M3. on a hot steamy day you folks can drive your buicks and cadillacs and i'll take any lexus. lexus is the truly the epitome of perfection.

top luxury brands

#1 LEXUS
#2 BMW
#3 ACURA
#4 INFINITI
#5 AUDI
#6 MERCEDES BENZ

grylexis300

I'm going to limit myself to "mainstream" luxury brands:

Qualifiers
- this is what luxury means to me
- I'm not factoring in reliability

1 - MB
2 - Lexus
3 - Audi
4 - BMW
5 - Acura
6 - Caddy

dude, if you factor in reliability MB doesn't even crack the top 6. they can't even hang with a chrysler 300M. wait, if you drive a MB you are kind of driving a chrysler or no?? we'd have to change this list to....

lexus
infiniti
toyota
Acura
Honda
Nissan

nobody else is worthy of being on this list even if luxury is totally sacrificed.

rockylee

let's approach this how consumer reports would approach this.

I take what [non-permissible content removed] Reports says with a grain of salt as 50% of their subscribers are from the left coast. They have a built in biased torwards honyota's and the info they gather is limited to their subscriber base thus it's not objective enough to be taken seriously.

hands down, lexus has the most recommended cars on this planet and every bell and whistle available on their cars. not to mention the air conditioner and stereo systems in lexus vehicles are really top notch.

That really depends on which models your talking about. The Bose Studio Surround in my friends STS sounded better than my friends Mark Levinson in his ES 350. The LS460 Levinson probably is better than the Bose Studio Surround but probably not as good as the Bang and Olfusen in the Audi. As far as Air conditioning goes I never payed attention.

they can only be matched not surpassed in any possible way. even the air con in an IS300 can kick the daylights out of any 3 series aircon including the M3. on a hot steamy day you folks can drive your buicks and cadillacs and i'll take any lexus. lexus is the truly the epitome of perfection.

So your main concern of judging cars by best to worst is how well the AC works and how good the stereo system is. That is a first for me. Well I look at more than just two categories when judging a luxury car. If money was no object BMW could easily place second or third on my list. Mercedes would probably be #2 though.

-Rocky

lemko

The Bose Studio Surround in my friends STS sounded better than my friends Mark Levinson in his ES 350.

Oh, I most certainly agree! When I first brought home my new Seville STS five years ago, the stereo alone was worth the price of admission! Heck, it sounded better than my Marantz home system. I'd sit in the car in the garage listening to some of my favorites back then.

rockylee

Yeah the Bose in your car like my former STS was the Bose 4.0 I think and it was 425 watts. The new Bose Studio Suround in the STS, is worth the price of admission.

-Rocky

displacedtexan

Different strokes - Acura's loaded concept works for me. You're probably the only person I've ever seen on these boards that knocks Acura's interior.

Acura interiors are well put together with good materials, but I just think they're garish. As for loaded or not, I just like choice.

You're right - different strokes!

lemko

Do they have this system in the DTS? Is it available in the Buick Lucerne?

Mr_Shiftright

I think of true luxury cars as being bought by people who have wealth, not a salary.

So I'd have to say, in the order of actual social and monetary prestige, from top to bottom:

Maybach
Rolls Royce
Bentley
Maserati
Aston Martin
Mercedes
BMW 7 series
Lexus 4 series

That's about it. The rest are just "nice cars" that don't convey any credible prestige among peers IMO.

louiswei

Lexus 4 series

What is that?

So Mercedes C-class is more luxurious than Audi A6, A8, BMW 5-series and Lexus GS? :confuse:

lemko

1. Cadillac
2. Imperial
3. Packard
4. Lincoln
5. Buick
6. Hudson

bumpy

Hudson? :confuse:

lemko

Hey, it was good enough for Miss Daisy!

rockylee

Lemko, last I new pal the DTS, didn't have the Bose Studio Surround Sound System which is a true 5.1 digital unit. I believe the STS is the only one with this system in it from GM. I know the Escalade, SRX, GMC Acadia, Enclave, and now the 08' CTS, all have a superb Bose 5.1 system in them which is also a Dolby Digital system which delivers true surround sound but doesn't have the same amount of speakers. It's a great system from what I understand but the Studio Surround I believe is a notch better. Bose, sells the Studio Surround unit to Infiniti, and they use it on the M45, and I believe the Q45, but don't quote me on the Q.

The Buick Lucerne uses a Harmon Kardon unit designed just for the Lucerne and I heard it's a good unit but it plays 2-channel CD's. I have requested in written for to faq@buick.com for them to stick a HK/bose 5.1 unit in the Lucerne and they said my message would be forwarded.

The ELS-Pansonic system in my former Acura TL, was a superb 5.1 unit but I wished it would of had a bit more power as I like to play em' pretty loud at times.

I gotta see when my CTS-V is going to be made so I can get my order in. I should call my local dealer and put a deposit down. I probably will after we get off strike. It will have the Bose 5.1 unit and that hard drive to down load songs in it when I'm not playing DVD-Audio discs.

-Rocky

fezo

Where's the Pierce Arrow?

xrunner2

1. Cadillac
2. Imperial
3. Packard
4. Lincoln
5. Buick
6. Hudson

I got it. This is a list of some American cars of the 40's, and some are extinct now and some are on verge of being so?

rockylee

So you think Cadillac, Lincoln Buick, are going extinct ? :confuse:

Rocky

fezo

I'd worry about Lincoln and Buick.

Lincoln because it is exiling it's base without putting out things to lure other folks in (Oldsmobile made the same mistake) and Buick more because of its limited offerings. I know there's more coming. The question is if it is enough and is it too late.

I actually believe Buick can last it out. Current offerings seem to be decent product and what's in the pipeline looks to be good as well. Add to that GM isn't as close to the edge as they were (and Ford is) and they want to keep Buick and I think Buick survives.

Lincoln I'm not as confident, but Ford's gotta figure out Mercury before they can deal with Lincoln.

rockylee

Well I think Ford, would dump Mercury before Lincoln. Lincoln, has some interesting products in the pipeline. The MKS, did look good but if they change it I might not like the way it looks. :surprise:

-Rocky

bumpy

Buick will survive... in China. They already buy more Buicks than we do.

rockylee

bumpy, you don't think Buick, will survive in NA ? :surprise:

-Rocky

cotmc

Is a Bugatti just a "nice car"? :P

bumpy

Not the way they're going now. Buick will be lucky to make 150k in sales this year. The Enclave is the only new product Buick NA gets before the end of the decade, and it can't prop up a whole division by itself.

rockylee

The SUPER's will save the day.

-Rocky

reality2

Yes, it is very hard. You are correct. My take would be as follows (excluding Ultra Luxury types such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Maybach, Lambo, Ferrari and any car maker above the $200,000 price range and a very limited volume). First, I would look more globally to see who are the Top Tier 1 Luxury and premium brands with the highest global penentration, and then I would look locally at the North American market and its players. So here goes nothing:

Global Luxury/Premium Brands: (alphabetic)

(1) Audi
(2) BMW
(3) Mercedes-Benz

American Luxury/Premium Brands: (Top 6 - alphabetic)

(1) Audi
(2) BMW
(3) Cadillac
(4) Jaguar
(5) Infiniti*
(6) Lexus

*This is a stretch for me as Infiniti lacks a true flagship sedan above $80,000.

PERFORMANCE Luxury Brands:

(1) Audi (Quattro)*
(2) BMW (M)*
(3) Mercedes-Benz (AMG)*

* All three brands have highly successful and dominate global motor sport programs with focus on technology from the racetrack to the street.

(4) Acura (nice competitive motor sport program in LMP2 class at ALMS) I like their committment to racing.

rockylee

Where's the Cadillac "V" series at ???? :surprise:

-Rocky

british_rover

Not at the level of the german Sport brands yet.

reality2

I made a little mistake: here is my correction to my North American top luxury/premium brands. Don't know why I forgot MB. So it is more like 6.5 (the 0.5 = Infiniti - not really a true top tier premium brand yet).

NA: (alphabetic order)

Audi
BMW
Cadillac
Jaguar
Mercedes-Benz
Infiniti* See above
Lexus

reality2

Ok, you can have the Cadillac V-Series, but honestly it is not on the same prestige level as Quattro, M, or AMG.

rockylee

Quattro, is Audi's out dated AWD system. I think you might be think of the "S/RS" series as in the RS-4, S6, S8

Cadillac's "V" series can mop the floor with them

The STS-V, XLR-V, CTS-V, make quick work of BMW's M3. CTS-V will run with the M5 and the 09' will no doubt blow it's doors off. :P

AMG ? Well for the most part they are pretty damn fast but the "V" series is just getting it's feet wet and did excellent for only being out now for a few years.

-Rocky

rockylee

Will the track numbers say otherwise.

-Rocky

british_rover

Numbers aren't everything. Audi's high performance sub-division is Quatro GmbH.

rockylee

Well I think numbers is the main ticket to prestige so you gotta start some where.

-Rocky