The New Definition of a Luxury Car

Washington DC The AIADA newsletter reported that we all know what a luxury car should be: Long, roomy, a big V8 or even V12, lots of electronics.

Picture a Mercedes E or S Class, the BMW 7 Series, the Audi 8, or big Lexus or Cadillac. But that's an old definition. Nowadays, it's the brand that counts, so luxury may be a smaller Mercedes C Class or BMW 3 Series or Cadillac CTS.

But, according to Jerry Flint at Forbes, there will be a broader definition of luxury or prestige tomorrow, because times are changing again. We are creating new markers to show that we are rich enough, and that we are caring enough, to spend thousands of dollars in the "green" cause.

It's likely that traditional luxury carmakers will produce electric plug-ins, and charge more for them than for the big V8s. They may or may not have the performance or room of today's prestige cars – depending on how they are built – but they will be even pricier. And the luxury brands might make some quite small cars and sell them at relatively high prices for their size.

Some of this exists now. Mercedes, for example, has its small A Class car that it sells in Europe but not here, and parent Daimler builds the tiny Smart. Click Here for more on the changes in tomorrow’s electric cars.