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Luxury Vehicles
The first luxury car I ever drove was a 1973 Mercedes Benz 240 diesel. My parents bought the vehicle new in Germany, drove it around Europe on vacation and had it shipped to California.
The A4 is Audi's top-selling line and it's available in three different models and nearly 20 configurations in sedans, wagons and convertibles.
It's not often a car gets renamed after only one year on the market. But that's exactly what happened to the Lincoln Zephyr. It debuted in 2006 as a entry level luxury sedan and now it's gone.
It's called a premium compact by some consumer advocacy publications and an entry level luxury sedan by other industry experts. By any name, the newly designed Saab 9-3 confidently joins an increasingly visible vehicle segment. Matched primarily against the Acura TSX, Audi A4 and BMW 3-Series, the Saab showcases high-end features with unique Scandinavian styling and at a less-than-exorbitant price.
Among the most discussed and highly praised new vehicles on the road, the Chrysler 300 offers sedan fanciers sophistication, power and a lot of luxury — all packaged about as nicely as feasible. It's as if the heavy-duty tankers of yesteryear have been given a modern-day makeover.
Swanky automotive manufacturer press trips are common occurrences. But with the long-anticipated debut of its 2005 line, Audi went to the extreme to introduce its new fleet.Like airports in many metropolitan cities, the San Francisco International Airport is a maze of intersections, connecting ramps, misplaced directional signs, heavy traffic, tense drivers and never-ending construction. Add the unfamiliarity of a new vehicle, and the driving experience anywhere near an airport could be even more unpleasant.
Value is an integral purchasing factor for many car buyers, and it's often a simple equation. If a consumer has $2,000, $20,000 or $200,000 to spend on a vehicle, what can they fairly expect get for their dollars? But as the price increases into the luxury vehicle category, is there a point of diminishing returns?
The reaction was immediate. One friend noticed the car in our driveway and said unsolicited, "It looks like a Mercedes." A few days later, I drove to a friend's home and his words were nearly identical: "Nice Mercedes. Oh, wait. That's not a Mercedes. What is it?"
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