Luxury Car Brands

‘Luxury cars’ is a vague term for a class of auto models that fit two categories. Firstly, they cost a lot more than the usual compact or even sports cars (the exact measure can vary). Secondly, they aren’t produced en masse, but shipped in hundreds or mere thousands in different countries.

Given that this class doesn’t necessarily specify the technical characteristics, a luxury car can theoretically have any sort of innards.

Maybach

Founded: 1909
Founder: Wilhelm Maybach
Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany
Owner: Daimler AG
Website: www.maybach-manufaktur.com

Maybach is one of the most notoriously luxurious car producers. So much so, a ‘Maybach’ became a nickname for exceedingly high-class cars in some countries. The brand appeared in Germany in 1909, but they had a large car hiatus until recently. Sadly, the brand died by 2013, and the Maybach cars are posthumously built by Mercedes.

Aston Martin

Founded: January 15, 1913
Founder: Lionel Martin, Robert Bamford
Headquarters: Gaydon, United Kingdom
Subsidiaries: Aston Martin Racing
Website: www.astonmartin.com

Aston Martin, on another hand, is still alive, despite being born not long after Maybach, in 1913. AM is one of the most famous car brands of Britain. Their unprecedented fame is due to their numerous appearances on-screen, most notably in ‘Bond’ franchise. Their pricing starts at about €150.000/car. This, surprisingly, is much higher than Maybach.

Bentley

Founded: January 18, 1919
Founder: W. O. Bentley, H. M. Bentley
Headquarters: Crewe, England, United Kingdom
Parent organization: Volkswagen Group
Website: bentleymotors.com

Bentley is much more successful on market, despite being outshone by Aston Martin fame-wise. This British brand started right after the WW1, in 1919. They have suffered numerous acquisitions by various car brands. Right now, they are a subsidiary of Volkswagen. Nevertheless, their cars are as pricy as Aston Martin’s models.

Rolls-Royce

Founded: 1904
Founder: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
Headquarters: Westhampnett, United Kingdom
Parent organization: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
Website: www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com

R-R is another huge luxury car producer from Britain. Their current enterprise is surprisingly young (opened in 1998), but the brand is, in fact, much older. They are also a bit more expensive than their colleagues, with usual prices starting at about €225.000 a car.

Cadillac

Founded: 22 August 1902
Founder: William Murphy, Lemuel Bowen, Henry M. Leland
Headquarters: Warren, Michigan, United States
Owner: General Motors Company
Website: www.cadillac.com

Cadillac is amongst the oldest brands on this list. The company was created in 1902, and almost all of its existence, Cadillac made premium cars. Their current assortment includes somewhat strange models of luxury SUV and luxury compact cars, like the CT4, CT5 and XT6. They seem to be doing very fine, dealing in hundreds of thousands of cars.

Lexus

Founded: September 1, 1989
Founder: Eiji Toyoda
Headquarters: Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Parent organization: Toyota
Website: www.lexus.com

Lexus is a premium subsidiary of the Japanese Toyota company. Like some of their colleagues, Toyota has created a specific brand for luxury cars in the 80s (1989, to be exact). They have been a huge success ever since, although the prices on their cars fall somewhat short of their European and American counterparts – $35.000 is their lowest.

Acura

Founded: March 27, 1986
Founder: Giovanni Agnelli
Headquarters: Minato City, Tokyo, Japan
Parent organization: Honda Motor Company
Subsidiary: Acura A-Spec and Type-S models
Website: www.acura.com

Acura had quite the similar story to Lexus, although their brand was created by Honda and 3 years previously than Lexus. They have been much less successful than their Toyota counterpart, and the pricing is also a bit more modest on average – about $25.000 for the cheapest Acura model.