Audi’s upcoming A3 may represent a certain amount of a break from recent Audi strategy, but as new sketches of the compact luxury car emerge, it’s clear that Audi isn’t taking any steps into the unknown with its design. Park this sketch next to a new A6, and the only difference appears to be some extra nose and rear deck. I suppose that if the fashion gods are smiling upon you, as they seem to be smiling upon Audi these days, you keep your designs consistent and conservative. But with Mercedes-Benz breaking out of the “one sausage, different lengths” mold and throwing funky, expressive hatches into the A3’s competitive space, shouldn’t Audi be trying a little harder to beat off the oldest trap in German luxury sedan styling?

This isn’t the first time Mercedes has rolled out a front-drive design, but for the first time it’s creating a flood of transverse-engined cars that won’t be limited to Europe, but are intended to conquer the whole world. And this, the concept version of the forthcoming Mercedes A Class, previews one of the most important bodystyles of Benz’s front-drive offensive, the “family hatch.” But as important as this funky Audi A3-fighting hatch is to the global fight for front-drive luxury acceptance, it does not appear to be headed stateside.

Thanks to Mercedes’ exquisite sensitivity to “American tastes” (pronounced with a slight shudder in the original German), we’ll only be getting sedan, “sporty coupe” and (sigh) crossover versions of this platform. Two liter engines (think 150-200 HP), and dual clutch transmissions should motivate US versions when they launch next year, and eventually a turbocharged 320 HP AWD “STI by AMG” version should become available. Just try to stop using the phrase “wrong wheel drive” in front of the local Mercedes dealer.

According to Lexus

The LF-Gh, which stands for Lexus Future Grand Touring Hybrid, sets out to redefine the premium grand touring sedan. Through this exercise, the definition of L-Finesse, the marque’s design philosophy since 2001, has been refined and evolved to include a bolder, more distinct projection of what a luxury car could become in a modern world. The result is the LF-Gh concept, which conveys original thoughts and ideas that may migrate to future Lexus vehicles on a global scale.

From these teasers, it’s hard to tell what Lexus’s “spindle grille” actually looks like, but the brand says it “hints at the new face of Lexus vehicles.” If nothing else, Lexus seems to be diverging from its arch-conservative stylistic roots, a move that will be interesting to watch given Toyota’s history of success with a substance-over-style strategy.

Every few years, Beijing’s government lashes out against billboards that advertise an ostentatious lifestyle. These exhortations are largely ignored, which preserves an endless source of involuntary humor. (Read More…)

Bugatti’s jumping onto the high-po four-door bandwagon, as its parent company Volkswagen has approved its Galibier concept for production, according to Automotive News [sub]. Initial specs: 1,000 HP and a $1.4m pricetag. All other questions should be directed to the video above.

Having struggled to launch and expand its Smart brand, Daimler might be forgiven for being a bit gunshy about investing in brands other than its globally-recognized Mercedes-Benz marque. And it seems the German outfit is currently agonizing over not just one but two big brand choices on the opposite ends of the automotive spectrum. First, Auto Motor und Sport reports that Daimler’s bosses are still undecided about the fate of the über-luxury Maybach brand, noting

“We have to do this year, because the model cycle is not endless,”  Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche tells Auto Motor und Sport. Here, the decision is open, even though the Maybach models are profitable. “I hope for a positive decision as long as we can create the proper conditions. We have invested heavily in the brand, but that is past. On the other hand, we now enjoy a very attractive profit margin on a per-car basis.”

If there’s one major challenge facing Maybach, Zetsche admits, it’s European emissions standards. Which is where Daimler’s other branding problem comes in…

(Read More…)

About two and a half years ago, Aston Martin started talking very seriously about bringing back its “four door, four seat” Lagonda brand, arguing that the move

would allow us to develop cars which can have a different character than a sportscar, and therefore offer a perfect synergy.

But, because Aston already had a four-door in the works, the Lagonda Concept turned out to be a bloated abortion of a luxury SUV-cum-Crossover. And having been met with resounding derision from fans as well as high gas prices and an economic downturn, Aston wisely hustled the Lagonda Concept out of sight and proceeded to embarrass itself by rebadging a Toyota. But now that the world economy is looking a little bit better and gas prices are headed up again, Aston Martin is back to touting Lagonda. And this time it seems the British sportscar firm is imagining a whole line of SUVs aimed at the most refined and tasteful buyers on the world luxury market.

(Read More…)

Given how far Audi has come in the last 20 years, you might think the Ingolstadt boys would be  the last brand to start looking backwards. And yet, starting with its re-imagined ur-Quattro, Audi has begun to reference its past work more often, doubtless in an attempt to square its somewhat stodgy past with its fashion-forward present. But then, the ur-Quattro has always been a halo for the brand, in ways that the Audi 80 and its predecessor, sold in the US as the Fox (and later as the 4000), wasn’t always. Don’t get it wrong: the 80, which was sold in Europe from 1966-1996, was by no means a bad car… but the modern Audi era of success didn’t start until the 80 was replaced with the A4. Which is why it’s interesting that Audi’s plans for the next-generation of A3 explicitly reference the nameplate that defined Audi as a solid but decidedly unglamorous premium (rather than luxury) brand.

(Read More…)

In his write-up on the new Town Car-replacing livery version of the Lincoln MKT, Jack Baruth takes on the practical issues at stake, writing

I’ve put plenty of miles on both the MKT and the outgoing Town Car. Make no mistake, the MKT is quieter, faster, more spacious, and possessed of a vastly superior level of interior technology. If you told me that I would need to run one up a curb at sixty miles per hour for the purpose of avoiding a wandering falafel vendor across 110th Street, however, I wouldn’t think twice before reaching for the old-style keys. Ford has their work cut out for them.

Well, livery fleet owners think Ford’s got its work cut out for it too… but not for the practical wear-and-tear reasons that Jack points out. No, the problem, according to the owner of one Chicago-area limo company [via AN [sub]] is that

What I heard from most people is that they’re dissatisfied. It’s mainly the appearance, which is a crossover vehicle. People are used to what they consider a luxury vehicle for their clients and this has got a bit of a van styling to it.

Yes, as is so often the case in the great automotive discussions of our day, aesthetics trump all. And in this case, the shallow critique might actually be fairly valid. Not only is the MKT seen by some as being “unrelentingly grotesque” (to borrow a phrase), but limos are typically the most traditional, conservative vehicles on the road. Though clearly the better vehicle, would a baleeen-grilled crossover impart the same sense of timeless gravitas as a black Town Car? Another limo fleet owner encapsulates the issue with a rhetorical question:

When you say limo, I know what that means now, but will it mean the same thing a year from now? Will I be thinking about the Lincoln or will I be thinking about all kinds of vehicles?

Well, is the MKT up to filling the Town Car’s shoes? Or will limo and livery buyers look to a more traditional replacement (hello, Chrysler 300)? Is the livery car’s conservative image about to be blown wide open, or is it more resilient than that?

Winter testing continues for the platform underlying Mercedes’ four compacts of the apocalypse, and Auto Motor und Sport’s cameraman have caught copious footage of the fun. But remember, the traditional B-Class hatchback won’t be headed stateside, having been nixed by MB’s US dealer net. Instead, we’ll get

a crossover, a sporty coupe and a sedan

based on the same front-drive platform. Heck, the platform may even spawn a baby Infiniti CUV, positioned under the EX, as part of Daimler and Nissan’s hookup. Given that this test mule is validating the internals of a new direction for the Mercedes brand in the US, do we like what we’re seeing?

Ever since Mercedes released its CLK back in 1996, Mercedes has offered one premium coupe slotted between its E and C-Class sedans. Sure, it offered the unloved C-Class Sportcoupe (aka CLC) for a few years in the US as an attempt at an entry-level Mercedes, but nobody really seemed to notice. Otherwise, between there and the none-too-cheap CL, Mercedes offered one coupe, known as the CLK (not counting the CLS “four door coupe”). Now, however, Mercedes has moved in a new direction, offering an “E-Class Coupe” and a “C-Class Coupe,” the latter of which will debut shortly at the Geneva Auto Show. The strange part: they’re both built on the C-Class platform. Mercedes, it seems, has learned an important lesson: when it comes to selling cars, it’s what’s on the outside that counts.

Having heard that the littlest Land Rover will go by the name “Range Rover Evoque,” Autoblog caught up with the Jaguar-Land Rover’s communications team at the Chicago Auto Show, and asked whether Tata’s luxury group would be trying to differentiate the Range Rover brand. Their answer?

Dealers will add Range Rover branding to their towers. the issue is in flux right now.

They will? This decision forces the question: what differentiates a Land Rover from a Range Rover?

Land Rover is more utilitarian, Range Rover is the top end of luxury. You don’t lose any capability with the Range Rover, but the Evoque especially is about unabashed on-road and urban driving.

There you have it. Certainly, “Land Rover Range Rover Sport” is an awkward formulation, but is “Range Rover Range Rover Sport” really any better? Is JLR making a worthwhile distinction between brands, or is it simply adding to America’s auto brand clutter?

Range Rover is apparently fairly serious about moving upmarket as Autocar reports it is about to announce a $200k+ “Ultimate” special edition. Plus, a new aluminum-platformed Range Rover is under development which will reportedly lose nearly one thousand pounds compared to the current model. More legroom and an interior featuring “the kind of lavish materials and design typified by Bentley” are said to be on tap for the new model. In short, it wounds like Range Rover is definitely headed upmarket… but where does that leave the Land Rover models?

Luxury means many things to many people, but nobody doubts luxury cars should be crammed full of the latest technology… and what says “technology” in today’s car market quite like “Hybrid”? In a strange inversion of history, Lexus created the world’s first hybrid luxury flagship from a vehicle that was clearly inspired by the Mercedes S-Class, and now Mercedes is fighting back with its first hybrid sedan, the S400 Hybrid. So, is Lexus’s hybrid head-start enough to fend off a challenge from the vehicle that inspired its birth over a twenty years ago? The only way to find out is in TTAC’s most expensive comparison test ever.

(Read More…)

Remember 2009? Luxury vehicles were unsalable. People did not have to money to buy them. Those who did have the money did not want to be seen in one. Makers that were heavy on luxury were put on death watch. (Not by this site. It monitored the vital signs of more mundane makes and their makers.)

How things have changed. (Read More…)

Ford’s been fixing Lincoln for so long now, it’s almost surprising that things on the dealership level are still so broken. But, as Ford told its dealers at last weekend’s NADA convention [via Automotive News [sub]], it’s time to put up or become a former Lincoln dealership. By the end of this year, every Lincoln dealer must comply with a few of Ford’s “more than reasonable” expectations, to wit:

• Offering what Lincoln calls “owner privileges.” That includes providing a free car wash and loaner vehicle to owners who come in for service
• Having a dedicated service manager and dedicated sales staff for Lincoln, Bokich said. That applies specifically to Lincoln dealers paired with Ford stores.
• Having only the word “Lincoln” appear on all franchise signage, not Mercury. Ford discontinued the Mercury brand as of Dec. 31.
• Having at least 30 percent of used-vehicle inventory be certified pre-owned vehicles.

You know, those do sound like reasonable standards for a luxury brand dealer network… and if a Lincoln dealer doesn’t like them, well, Ford is looking to trim the network by 100 stores or so anyway. Still, isn’t Lincoln’s problem pretty conclusively product-related? There’s no word from Ford’s boffins on that front, which means some dealers may be happy to leave the Mercury sign up and become one of those used car lots that still has an Oldsmobile sign up. Yes, Lincoln needs a top-notch dealer experience (and an own-brand sales manager to keep marks away from the Taurus) to make Lincoln viable, but demanding it without even hinting at future product is to ask Lincoln dealers to make an incredible leap of faith.