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High End Luxury Cars

24700 messages,  Last post on Dec 01, 2009 at 12:24 PM

You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens

What is this discussion about? Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar XJ-Series, Lexus LS 460, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Volkswagen Phaeton, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz CL-Class, Sedan



Let's try to define this forum as being limited to luxury performance vehicles where the mainstream version in a typical configuration has an MSRP of at least $60k.

A luxury vehicle with a base price of $59k qualifies because it would typically be bought with some additional equipment, bringing the MSRP over $60k.

Vehicles like the E, 5, A6, M, or GS, even if available in certain versions over $60k, don't qualify because they are cars from companies that have higher end cars in their lineups.



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#19931 of 24700
Re: more blah blah [houdini1] by tagman
Oct 15, 2006 (6:23 pm)
Reply

Replying to: houdini1 (Oct 15, 2006 6:02 pm)

So, if we follow your argument as to how great the new ES 350 is then we could logically assume that you would also pick this supercar over the entry level lowly 5 series or the dreadful E class
 
A rhetorical post . . . and no logic at all!
 
Read my post! I said that the ES gets extra luxury by giving up costly performance attributes because Lexus buyers don't care about those things.
 
So, your idea of a 5-Series buyer giving up on performance is . . . well . . . pure baloney. To say it kindly, it just ain't gonna happen.
 
Just ask any 5-Series owner. Performance, not luxo, is what it's about.
 
TagMan
#19932 of 24700
Thought I’d check in… by designman
Oct 15, 2006 (6:25 pm)
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Has this place gone nuts? Let me guess... we’re on the verge of coming to a consensus on what the best brand is?
 
#19933 of 24700
Re: more blah blah [tagman] by houdini1
Oct 15, 2006 (6:47 pm)
Reply

Replying to: tagman (Oct 15, 2006 6:23 pm)

Some of us are just better fishermen than others.
#19934 of 24700
Re: Thought I’d check in… [designman] by tagman
Oct 15, 2006 (6:48 pm)
Reply

Replying to: designman (Oct 15, 2006 6:25 pm)

Let me guess... we’re on the verge of coming to a consensus on what the best brand is?
 
Ever since I posted that infamous BusinessWeek article . . . the best brand is . . . BMW?
 
TagMan
#19935 of 24700
Re: more blah blah [houdini1] by tagman
Oct 15, 2006 (6:49 pm)
Reply

Replying to: houdini1 (Oct 15, 2006 6:47 pm)

touche!
 
TagMan
#19936 of 24700
Re: Strategic Vision Survey [hpowders] by brightness04
Oct 15, 2006 (6:52 pm)
Reply

Replying to: hpowders (Oct 15, 2006 5:48 pm)

That's why I mentioned the price for E and 5 were around $40-45k at the time. Auomotive price inflation has been relatively subdued in the last decade and half (average price may have gone up, but the size and content have gone up signficantly at the same time).
 
Lexus has simply moved up market, significantly.
#19937 of 24700
Back to business by tagman
Oct 15, 2006 (7:14 pm)
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Well, it's time to get back to real business here. It seems that the German manufacturers are going to form an alliance to combat the hybrids from Japan . . . in the form of a diesel alliance . . . all surrounding the use of the BlueTec diesel.
 
They will jointly share the BlueTec diesel technology, and the good news is that the first wave will hit in just one more model year. Ya' gotta' just love this.
 
Here's the scoop:
 
German automakers will offer advanced diesel engines
 
TagMan
#19938 of 24700
Re: more blah blah [tagman] by brightness04
Oct 15, 2006 (7:36 pm)
Reply

Replying to: tagman (Oct 15, 2006 6:23 pm)

I said that the ES gets extra luxury by giving up costly performance attributes because Lexus buyers don't care about those things.
 
The phrase "costly performance attributes" has to be well-qualified. MacPhearson Struts as used by BMW is decidedly low-cost when compared to double wishbone suspensions used on some of the competitors; GM invented MacPhearson Struts decades ago as a cost saving measure. Inline-6 is once again cheaper to produce than V6, both in terms of casting the block and the manufacturing of one head instead of two.
 
What may make performance attributes more costly is in scale of manufactur: fewer people are willing to put up with the hard riding often inevitable with performance tuning . . . that results in the parts being made in smaller number of copies, and the design itself with smaller market potential . . . therefore may benefit less from economy of scale compared to a more popular design spec, even if the more popular design spec uses better material. That's part of the reason why BMW 3 series has become softer and more main stream in the last four generations.
#19939 of 24700
Re: Strategic Vision Survey [hpowders] by brightness04
Oct 15, 2006 (7:49 pm)
Reply

Replying to: hpowders (Oct 15, 2006 5:59 pm)

It all depends on how Toyota intends to manage its brand portfolio. If the goal is to have a Lexus-Toyota-Scion triplet, just like RR-BMW-Mini and MB-Mercedes-Chrysler, having a few Toyota models copying some Lexus cues is not a bad idea. Toyota brand has to move upmarket too, with the tidal wave of Korean, Chinese and Indian cars coming. Once Is and GS develop in sales, and Avalon pick up a bit more on the other end, it would not suprise me to see ES disappearing altogether, just like RSX disappearing now that TL has proven able to carry weight for Acura.
#19940 of 24700
Missing the Forest for the Trees by danogo
Oct 15, 2006 (8:14 pm)
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We are talking about gasoline engines. Why? Is it me or is all of America just stupid? I am old enough to remeber 5 block long lines at gas stations in the early 80's during the first oil shortage. If you have a senator or congressperson in your district still in office they should be shot for treason. And you should be feeling a little negligent right now. We knew then there was a NATIONAL SECURITY issue with global oil suppliers. At that point we should have had our government created huge disincentives for gasoline vehicle manufacturers and a huge incentives for alternative fuel vehicle manufacturers.
 
So with that in mind...Better late than never. A diesel hybrid is the greatest opportunity for a renewable resource fuel transition vehicle.(Transition-to get us to the next mobile fuel resource) As we ALL KNOW internal combustion is a no go for the long term, but for the next ten years... Hey we can grow our own fuel(biodiesel)and burn less of it(in a hybrid)and produce anywhere from 1/4 to 1/10th the greenhouse gases of gasoline engines. And if we don't want to grow it, it can be grown almost anywhere, creating a competative supply that is always available. That sounds like real solution to me. Check it.
 
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/28/bloomberg/sxhonda.php
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/09/honda_previews_.html
 
Of course it's a foreign corp that is moving on this first.
 
Puleeeeez stop voting your religion or your own selfish ends and start voting your love for: your fellow man, your community, your country, and of course your planet. This is about EVERYONE not just you or just your friends or your football team. The politicians don't want us to find common ground they want us to be trivially divided so they can serve their masters(corporations;national & international)and keep giving themselves pay raises, while voting down increases in minimum wage. Working class America can vote people into office that represent us not our corporations or religions. Or don't and keep taking it(no matter who you are except the top 1/10% income bracket).

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