Luxury vehicle

A luxury vehicle is a relatively expensive vehicle which includes additional features designed to increase the comfort of the driver and passengers. Luxury vehicles usually place more emphasis on comfort, appearance, and amenities such as technological upgrades and higher quality materials than on performance, economy, or utility. Luxury vehicles are often built in smaller numbers than more affordable mass-market vehicles. Luxury vehicles include cars (sedan, coupé, hatchback, station wagon, roadster, etc.) and trucks, such as light pickup trucks or sport utility vehicles.

General definition (American market)

Polished woodgrain trim is a popular amenity in luxury carsWhile defining what constitutes a "luxury car" is somewhat subjective, guidelines such as price, design, comfort, and prestige that can be used to help define the term. Luxury cars also offer a higher degree of comfort than their mainstream counterparts as well as a highly sumptuous interior with a strong emphasis on design and beauty. Features such as interior leather and polished wood dashboards are common amenities. [2] Luxury cars typically carry prestige, which means the allure which the car carries.

In the 2000s, defining "luxury car" is more difficult, because many vehicles such as the GMC Yukon or the Chevrolet Suburban are expensive, yet they do not have many of the amenities of other luxury vehicles. As well, there are vehicles with luxury car-like prestige and/or pricing that do not offer the degree of comfort required for them to actually be considered luxury vehicles, such as the Hummer H1, the Chevrolet Corvette and the Dodge Viper. [3]

Many high priced prestige vehicles, such as the Porsche 911, Alfa Romeo GTV, most Ferrari and many Lamborghini are classed as luxury vehicles, when they lack many of the amenities of typical luxury vehicles. Other vehicles, such as the Mercury Grand Marquis, are not considered to be luxury vehicles due to their relatively low MSRPs, despite their numerous in-cabin comfort features.