The New Look of Luxury
For consumers with more than $30,000 to spend on a car, a rich menu of choices is about to become a full-blown smorgasbord.
The powerful, flashy array of new luxury vehicles appearing now is the upshot of a gamble by the auto industry a few years ago, when the U.S. economy was in a slump. Despite the sluggish economy, manufacturers bet that American buyers would still have an appetite for increasingly powerful engines, as well as an array of high-tech new safety systems.
The results of their optimism will be on display this week at the New York Auto Show, which opens to the public on Saturday. Among the new cars expected to be there -- in addition to new cars from U.S. luxury brands Lincoln and Cadillac -- are an Acura RL sedan with 300 horsepower, and a Mercedes-Benz with 600 horsepower. These are muscle-car numbers: By contrast, the typical six-cylinder midsize sedan has about 200 horsepower.
There's also fresh evidence that the luxury SUV craze isn't over -- despite rising gas prices. Ford Motor Co.'s Land Rover brand will show a new midsize SUV called the LR3, a vehicle powered by a 300 horsepower engine originally designed for Jaguar cars. The LR3 replaces the aging Land Rover Discovery.
See a chart comparing a sampling of new luxury vehicles.
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Saab, the Swedish brand owned by General Motors Corp., is finally getting into the SUV fray with a made-over version of GM's Chevy TrailBlazer.
For luxury-car buyers, the stampede of new or redesigned models is good news -- not least because there are signs that demand might not grow fast enough to absorb all the new entrants. That could lead to discounting.
The makers of luxury cars are struggling to justify premium prices in a market where even Chevrolets can come with leather seats. Increasingly, one answer is to promote high-tech safety gear. Acura's redesigned RL is expected to offer a sophisticated all-wheel-drive system designed to make it more sure-footed on slippery roads by varying the power going to the front and back wheels, and also by shifting the amount of drive going to the left or right wheels. Acura says this is an industry first. The current RL is priced at about $46,000 and is Acura's most expensive sedan.
Lexus, Acura's main rival, is also putting more emphasis on safety. Lexus already is advertising technology that causes the headlights of the RX 330 sport utility to tilt in the direction of a turn, essentially shining light around a corner. This technology is also showing up on some European luxury cars.
This fall, Nissan Motor Corp.'s Infiniti division will offer a warning system in its FX sport-utility vehicles that alerts you if your car starts to drift out of its lane. The system uses a camera and sensors to watch for evidence of drift, and sounds a buzzer.
The new Lincoln, dubbed the Zephyr, is Lincoln's effort to enter a car in the compact, $30,000 luxury sedan market where BMW's 3 series models currently are kings of the hill.
The 2005 Cadillac STS
The Lincoln, derived from the underpinnings of a front-wheel-drive Mazda, will likely have an all-wheel-drive option later. Among other rivals, the new Lincoln likely will face a redesigned Lexus IS 300 compact sedan. Lexus is expected to show a prototype of the new IS 300 in New York.
Industry executives are optimistic about luxury-vehicle sales as baby boomers move into their empty-nest and high-income years. But J.D. Power & Associates, the California market research firm, says market share for luxury brands is likely to stay flat at roughly the current level of 12% after shooting up from 9.2% during 2001. "We don't think the market is going to grow like it was," says J.D. Power's Jeff Schuster.
One reason, he says: Car makers are also offering better mainstream cars, such as the forthcoming Ford Five Hundred and Chrysler 300 C sedans. Ford is hoping consumers will be attracted to the Five Hundred by features such as optional all wheel drive, and a cavernous trunk capable of holding eight golf bags. The Chrysler 300 C offers an unusually bold design -- large grille, tall fenders and big wheels that give the car an aggressive stance -- that is a sharp departure from the jelly-bean looks of 1990s Detroit cars. The 300 C also has the option of a 340 horsepower V-8 engine.
Already, there are signs the luxury market may be facing some challenges. Total luxury-car sales through the end of the first quarter of this year were up just 1.5%, compared to the total market's 3.9% gain. Luxury midsize SUV sales (a segment that includes such vehicles as the Lincoln Aviator) rose just 2.5%, according to data from Ward's Automotive Reports.
2005 Prototype Acura RL
High gasoline prices, and on-again, off-again calls from Washington for auto makers to boost their fuel economy, could complicate the luxury market's horsepower race and the trend toward larger, heavier luxury SUVs such as GM's Hummer H2. Indeed, the horsepower race in the luxury market has prompted criticism -- including some from within the industry.
"When you look at the average consumer, 0-60 in nine seconds would be sufficient [for] most people," Ford Motor Group Vice President for Product Creation Phil Martens told reporters last week during a sneak preview for the new Lincoln Zephyr model that will be unveiled at the New York Show. (A midsize car like a Honda Accord can go from 0-60 miles per hour in about eight seconds; sports cars typically are designed to accelerate to 60 mph in about six seconds or less.)
Backing off on speed, Mr. Martens said, "does give us a chance to come up with better fuel economy gains, and a smoother driving vehicle. Fuel economy is an important attribute."
J.D. Power says that in its 2003 study of "escaped shoppers" -- consumers who walked away from a certain vehicle -- fuel economy moved to the fifth most cited reason for rejection, up from 13th a year earlier.
But not everyone in the industry shares the view that speed is becoming less important. Consider the 600 horsepower Mercedes SL65 AMG, a convertible with a massive 12-cylinder engine. It's the latest in a series of ultra-powerful supercars launched in the U.S. The super Mercedes is strictly for the money-is-no-object set, expected to have a sticker price of well north of $100,000.
Horsepower has become an arms race in luxury-car segments, says Mark Hogan, General Motors group vice president for advanced vehicle development. He says 300 horsepower is rapidly becoming the benchmark for serious luxury sedans.
That's why at the New York show, Cadillac will roll out the 2005 Cadillac STS, due to reach showrooms this fall. That will come with a 320 horsepower, eight-cylinder engine, up nearly 7% from the current Seville model it replaces.
安全和动力性能将成为纽约车展焦点
对于手头有超过3万美元可用于购置汽车的消费者来说，现在就已经十分丰富的选择"菜单"很快就会变成一个应有尽有的自助餐。
层出不穷的动力强大、外表奢华的新型豪华汽车是几年前美国经济仍陷入衰退状态时汽车行业一场赌博的结果。尽管经济形势疲软，但汽车制造商仍然认为，美国消费者对于越来越强劲的发动机以及新型高科技安全系统依然情有独钟。
这种乐观情绪带来的影响将在本周的纽约车展上暴露无遗。除了林肯和凯迪拉克等美国豪华车品牌之外，预计届时将亮相的新车型将有300马力的Acura RL轿车以及配备600马力超强发动机的梅塞德斯-奔驰轿车。一般来说，上面这两个动力数字只有在大马力中型轿车中才会出现，典型的6缸中型轿车发动机一般在200马力左右。
还有最新迹象显示，尽管汽油价格不断上升，消费者对于豪华运动型多用途车(SUV)的狂热情绪依然没有消退。
福特汽车(Ford Motor Co.)的陆虎品牌将推出一款名为LR3的新款中型SUV，该车型配备原本为捷豹设计的300匹马力发动机。LR3将取代已经生产多年的陆虎发现者车型。
通用汽车所拥有的瑞典品牌Saab也卷入了SUV热潮，同期推出的还有通用Chevy TrailBlazer的新版本。
对于豪华车购买者来说，新车型或者改进车型层出不穷是个好消息，原因不仅仅在于有迹象显示需求增长速度可能不足以完全吸收这些新车型，还在于这意味著购车者有可能会以折扣价格买到新车。 在这个雪佛莱都可能装有真皮坐椅的市场中，豪华车制造商正在努力使自己的车型卖出高价。他们越来越倾向于采取的一个策略是采用高科技安全系统。重新设计的Acura RL预计将会配备有复杂的四轮驱动系统，这样当汽车在光滑的路面上行驶时能够通过改变前后轮、左右轮的动力分配来确保防滑。现有的RL车型售价大约4.6万美元，是Acura最贵的一款轿车。
Acura的主要竞争对手凌志(Lexus)也在安全性能上下了更大的功夫。凌志已经在宣传一项新技术，该技术能够使RX 330车在转弯时前灯向转弯方向倾斜，从而照亮所转向的一侧。欧洲的一些豪华车也使用了这项技术。
今年秋天，日产汽车(Nissan Motor Co.)旗下的Infiniti将在其FX运动型多用途车上装备一个警报系统，当汽车偏离车道时，该系统能向司机发出警告。这个系统使用照相机和传感器来监测汽车偏离车道的迹象，并能发出蜂鸣报警。
新款林肯和风(Zephyr)是林肯为进入3万美元级别紧凑型豪华车市场而推出的，宝马3系车是目前这个市场中最高端的车型。新款林肯和风脱胎于前轮驱动的马自达(Mazda)轿车，未来有采用四驱技术的可能性。在其他竞争对手方面，新款林肯可能会面临来自重新设计的凌志 IS 300紧凑车型的竞争。预计凌志将在纽约展出新型IS 300的样车。
业内管理人士对于豪华车的销售前景感到乐观，原因是婴儿潮一代人正逐渐变为"空巢"家庭并进入高收入时期。但加州市场研究机构J.D. Power & Associates表示，豪华车在总体汽车市场中的占有率从2001年的9.2%达到目前的12%之后将基本上维持在这个水平。J.D. Power的舒斯特(Jeff Schuster)说，预计豪华车市场不会像此前那样迅速扩大。
舒斯特说，作出这种判断的一个理由是，汽车制造商同时也在推出更好的主流车型，比如即将推出的福特500以及克莱斯勒300 C轿车。福特希望消费者能够被福特500的诸多特色所吸引，比如可选四驱性能、可容纳8个高尔夫球袋的巨大后备箱等。克莱斯勒300 C的设计则极为大胆，宽大的水箱护罩，高挡泥板以及巨大的轮胎都使人对这款车过目不忘。另外，克莱斯勒300 C还可以装配340马力的V-8发动机。
目前，已经有迹象显示豪华车市场可能面临一些挑战。今年第一季度豪华车销量仅仅增长1.5%，而整体汽车市场同期销量增幅为3.9%。根据Ward's Automotive Reports的数据，第一季度豪华中型SUV的销量也仅增长2.5%。
汽油价格居高不下，另外政府在要求汽车制造商降低汽车油耗这个问题上也忽紧忽松，这些因素可能使豪华车市场的马力竞赛以及该市场倾向于制造大型豪华SUV的趋势变得复杂化。的确，豪华车市场出现的马力竞赛已经招来批评，而且，一些批评的声音甚至来自行业内部。
福特汽车负责产品创新的副总裁马誊斯(Phil Martens)上周对记者表示，对于普通的消费者来说，9秒钟内车速能提高到每小时60英里已经完全足够了。（本田Accord这样的中型轿车能够在大约8秒钟内将速度提升至每小时60英里，而跑车一般在大约6秒甚至更短时间内就能提升至这个速度。）
马誊斯说，降低在速度方面的竞争有利于汽车制造商推出低油耗而且驾驶更舒适的汽车。他说，油耗对于汽车来说是一个很重要的方面。
J.D. Power称，其2003年对"逃离的购车人"（即那些面对某些车型望而却步的消费者）进行的研究表明，耗油水平在消费者拒绝某款车型的原因中已经上升至第五的位置，而一年前这个理由还位居第十三。
但是，并非所有业内人士都赞同速度的重要性有所下降的观点。想想梅塞德斯SL65 AMG就可以了，这款动力高达600马力的敞篷车配备有一个巨大的12缸发动机。这是在美国市场推出的一系列拥有超强动力的超级汽车中的最新一款。这款车面向对钱根本就不在乎的消费者群，预计其价格要远远高于10万美元。
通用汽车负责先进车型开发的集团副总裁霍根(Mark Hogan)说，马力竞争已经演变为豪华车市场内的军备竞赛。他说，300马力正迅速成为认真意义上豪华车的基准。
这一点或许可以解释为什么凯迪拉克要在纽约车展上展出其2005款凯迪拉克STS，这款车预计今年秋天才会真正出现在汽车展厅，这款车装有320马力的8缸发动机，较其目前的Seville款高出将近7%。
