The entry level luxury car market has gotten bigger and bigger over the years in America, and it no longer is a "luxury" to those that makes millions but to anyone that has a decent job and makes good living. Some of the normal cars today fully loaded approaches or even exceeds the price tag of these entry luxury cars and sometimes they are even less drivable. Because of these reasons the market has become more and more popular as we Americans start to share the views of the Europeans, that a car is not just a means of transportation.
Out of all the luxury cars the entry level cars are the most popular not just because one can show off their status on the road for the cheapest price but because sometime even if you can afford one you don't want to be too flashy or broadcast the fact that you are driving a 200,000 dollar Mercedes. It's segment for the average Joe, the corporate executive, or a successful businessman. It is a segment where the world leading luxury car producer BMW, sells most of its cars. So without further delay lets examine a few of these so called entry level luxury cars.
-Part 1. Home Grown.
It is only appropriate to start in a country that only has the biggest auto industry in the world. No matter how you perceive American cars, American auto makers are no stranger to the luxury brands. GMC, Cadillac, Lincoln, Buick have all been with us for a long long time. But one thing that American brands don't share with foreign auto is how a car should be built, and I am not talking about quality either. There was a time that US luxury cars were viewed only as...well luxury cruisers. They are big, heavy, unresponsive boat like machines that often have the biggest V8 engine you can find but accelerates slower than a diesel truck today. So yes they are perfect highway cruisers for older people and back in the day only older folks were the ones that could afford these types of cars, that or rich and famous people who has a chauffeur. Either way those types of people want to have a boat like car because they are either old or sitting in the backseat disconnected from the driving experience. But like I said the times have changed, younger people that have good jobs or their parents fortune are starting to buy these kind of car, and they do not want a boat. What they want is a sporty car that is engaging to drive yet retains that luxury feel. European Brands like BMW and Mercedes started doing this a long time ago partly because they were once race car makers but everyone in Europe drives them everyday anyways, there was no luxury or normal car. I fault the downfall of American Autos on their inability to recognize that the market is change rather than their failing in making quality cars. In the last few years they have finally realized that they can no longer only target the older segment, and started to endorse the sporty, young, and hip images of these American luxury brands, but is it too late? And its not as easy as it sounds, Luxury cars were big and heavy for the reason of ride quality, like Cadillac and Mercedes, and sports cars are usually light and nimble with rough ride quality, like Porsche and Lotus, so if you combine the two something has to give. After all can Americans truly compete with Europeans on something they have been doing for decades? We shall see.
-Cadillac
There is no name synonymous with American luxury than Cadillac, But there is also no other that display the image of boat like than it either. Cadillac Escalade, the original reason others hate us for the display of wastefulness before Hummer came along. All the movies you see, all the Cadillac you see on the road, there is just no other cruisers like it. But now it is changing its brand images with the youger crowd, and in comes the entry level Cadillac CTS. At the starting price of over $36,000 it is by far the most expensive car in this segment. This is one myth I will destroy in the blog, people always do a double take when they see the current price of entry level BMW and Mercedes thus creating the lie that German cars are much more expensive than others. That might be true for their flag ship cars but next time check out the price on an American car too, you would be surprised. Anyways this is by far the smallest and sportiest Cadillac we have seen so far, it sports a reasonable sized V6 engine that produces 270-304 hp, which puts it at the front of the pack but I have learned long ago to not just rely on numbers on a piece of paper. The CTS is smaller than other Caddys but at the price range it is probably one of the largest entry level luxury car standing at 192 inches and over 3800 lbs. So its got all the right numbers on paper but just well does this car drive compare to others?
Ok so three things, exterior, interior, and the engine. These so called reviews might say how they love the exterior but any car enthusiasts can tell that its still got the same big, bulky in your face look of a traditional Caddy. There is no way you can say side by side that it looks better than a BMW 3 series or a Mercedes C class. On to the interior now the CTS interior looks much better and more modern than the older Caddys as it is an obvious attempt to get more younger crowd. I am not big on interior design or have a strong opinion on this subject so I will give CTS the thumbs up for attempted modernized interior. Lastly the engine, on paper it rivals the BMW 335i and as it stands today, the 335i cost 4000 dollars more to start. But does it really drive as well as the 335i? Cadillac never released any official times but it has been said that the CTS accelerates from 0-60 miles in around 6.6 seconds, and if that's the case than its no where near the 5.4 seconds on the 335i. That is actually closer to the cheaper 328i but the 328i has whopping 70 less hp and 70 less ft-lb of torque than the CTS, and I am not even going into the technical aspect of why even so the 328i is still better the CTS because you get power on the 328i at much lower RPM. Okay so the CTS is much bigger and heavier car than the 3 series therefor slower is to be expected, but looking at it this way even though no review would say how well it handles I am certain because of the size factor CTS also handles no where near as well as the 3 series.
Last Impression of the CTS is good, it is a nice attempt for Cadillac to finally join the rest of us in the 21st century but it still has a long way to go if it ever wants to truly compete with the best.
-Lincoln, Buick
I'm not even going to bother with the new Lincoln MKZ and whatever Buick as to offer knowing they are both built on the much cheaper Ford fusion platform and perhaps even with the same engine too. It seems to me they have either given up hope in selling any more cars or just contempt in selling to the older generation which is slowly dying off. Or maybe they are just too lazy for change, that always is the right answer when it comes to American Auto Industry.
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