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Tag Archives: luxury cars
Hyundai to Try to Make Genesis a Global Luxury Brand
Hyundai Motor in Korea today announced an all-new global luxury brand, Genesis, an extension of its current luxury car. A six-model line-up begins to appear this December and will be completed by 2020. Continue reading
Posted in marketing
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Hyundai Genesis, Ken Zino, luxury cars
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Audi A8 Flagship Coming to Frankfurt. German Fall Intro
A revised Audi A8 is due at German dealerships this November after its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Audi claims only a small increase is coming, with prices starting in Germany at €74,500 or $99,600. Continue reading
Posted in new vehicle
Tagged a8, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, luxury cars
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Driving the 2013 Lexus LS 460, F Sport and 600hL Flagship Sedans
Lexus after decades of understated luxury has turned to relying on a “bold new grilles” and German-like performance models across the lineup to attract younger buyers. The latest example comes from its flagship LS sedan, which once upon a time (1989) catapulted Lexus to luxury car fame by being anti-German with its compliant ride without harshness and nosie, anti-German with a simple interior, anti-German with its limited maintenance requirements, anti-German with its much higher quality and durability, and decidedly anti-German with its much lower – by thousands and thousands of dollars lower – sticker prices. This formula has Lexus on track to sell 250,000 luxury vehicles in the U.S. this year, where it has dominated luxury sales for decades, except for natural disaster induced production losses that curbed sales during 2011. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, marketing, new vehicle, news analysis, road test
Tagged 2013 lexus, auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, driving impression, f-sport, Ken Zino, ls 460, ls60hL, luxury cars
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Lexus Debuts New LS Flagship Sedan Tonight in San Francisco
The original Lexus full-size sedan – the 1990 model LS 400 – caught the Germans by surprise with its combination of high quality, silky smooth ride, and a price that undercut competing Mercedes-Benz and BMW sedans by $10,000 or more.
Initially dismissed by the Europeans, the success of Lexus ultimately forced improvements in quality and a lowering of prices by Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. The Japanese brand’s success has also prompted an expanding list of joint ventures with BMW. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, customer satisfaction, electric vehicles, marketing, new vehicle, news analysis
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, BMW, Ken Zino, lexus, ls 400, ls 460, luxury cars
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First Drive – 2013 Lexus ES 350 and ES 300h Hybrid Sedans
A day of test-driving both of the front-drive mid-size cars shows that once again, these are well-equipped, quiet luxury models. However, Lexus engineers have abandoned the plush ride that made its name, for a distinctly German chassis setup that verges on the harsh and intrusive. Lexus executives claim that this is what customers want, which could come as news to the one million ES owners. This theory will be tested after the cars are priced – and the strong Yen will be a factor here – and final EPA numbers are attached to their window stickers. Continue reading
Posted in alternative fuels, auto news, electric vehicles, marketing, new vehicle
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, Avalon, es 300h, hybrids, Ken Zino, lexus, luxury cars, mid-size cars
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Audi Lifer Johan de Nysschen Bolts to Infiniti
De Nysschen was with Audi for 19 years, serving in executive positions in South Africa, Japan and most recently as President of the Audi’s American operations. Continue reading
Posted in people
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, infiniti, johan de nysschen, Ken Zino, luxury cars, nissan
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Lincoln MKZ Concept Derived off Ford Fusion Debuts at NAIAS
Lincoln needs some sales successes and in the U.S – virtually its only outlet for this fading regional brand – where luxury car sales range from ~10-13% of the market annually. There’s an enormous opportunity now posed by Generation Y types, 80% of whom say they would consider a luxury car in the $30,000 range, which hasn’t escaped impending product actions at Lexus, Acura, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, among others. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, concept, design and styling, news, news analysis, sales
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, Ken Zino, lincoln, luxury cars, mks, mkz, naias, u.s. luxury cars
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Car Spy Jim Dunne Catches Revised Lincoln MKS or MKZ?
Following the Ford Jaguar debacle, success is also not a word that can be applied to Ford’s management of Lincoln, which is a poseur in the world of luxury cars dominated by the German Brands and Toyota’s Lexus, which even though it was out of the U.S. market for five months this year because of the Japan earthquake, still managed to outsell Lincoln by a better than 2:1. Continue reading
Retro Cadillac Ciel Convertible Unveiled ahead of Pebble Beach
While the exterior is said, with no little bombast, to be pushing the Cadillac’s Art & Science philosophy into a “new stratum,” it’s really the handsome interior that distinguishes the car and shows how far from “luxury” mass produced “luxury cars” have strayed. Continue reading
Driving the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe
It’s surprising when the president of an auto company appears at a race track to drive a car he actually worked on as an engineer. It’s embarrassing, though, when he’s as fast, well frankly faster, than any hot shoe out there. Continue reading
Posted in auto news
Tagged amg mercedes, audi rs, auto informed, auto marketing, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, bmw m series, Cadillac CTS, cts coupe, cts v coupe, general motors, GM, Ken Zino, luxury cars, super cars
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Cadillac CT5 Debuts at New York International Auto Show
The all-new compact sedan is the latest attempt – after spending billions of dollars on decent product – to resuscitate the brand’s once award-winning glory days in segments it once dominated as well as segments undreamed of in Detroit during the Ike and Mamie good years and the swinging sixties. Continue reading →