Luxury cars spelling out fun and fuel efficiency
Lavish vehicles do not also mean promising gas mileage. But thank goodness some high performance brands have very desirable cars which are also very fuel efficient like the hybrid Lexus RX400h, Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec which is diesel-powered and the Porsche Cayman.
Since they are seeking for Luxury vehicles, consumers may appear not totally bothered with their gas mileage despite the fact that oil peaked to $80 per barrel this month.
“Fuel economy is not becoming significantly important over previous years,” said Alexander Edwards, president of San Diego-based research company Strategic Vision. Mr. Edwards reviewed the firm’s last seven years’ worth of car buyer surveys, a total of more than 50,000.
According to him, car shoppers especially the luxury group are more concerned of the factors like the brand’s reputation, vehicle make and its features for fun driving. Fuel economy is in the bottom of the list.
In a survey, the subjects were asked the reason for purchasing a vehicle, the highest fuel economy was ranked No. 19 in the last seven years from 2001. This year, it fell down to No.30 out of the 47 reasons.
According to buyers of the hybrid Lexus RX 400h SUV, fuel economy is “extremely important”. The Lexus RX 400h (installed with Lexus fog light) has a six-cylinder, 3.3L internal combustion engine with two electric motors as its power source.
Although the Prius do not belong to the luxury segment, the Japanese automaker have remarkably made huge profits from the best-selling Toyota Prius selling to more than 400,000 units since its introduction in 2000. But not all Toyota’s hybrid are the same phenomenon as the Prius, the hybrid RX models have only sold 9,652 models this year until August falling 31% from the previous year.
Because diesel engines have tougher emissions, the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec cannot be driven in vehicle emission conscious states of California, New Yordk, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont resulting to handicapped sales. This Benz is very fuel efficient with 27 mpg in combined city and highway driving.
The vehicles in this list have at least 20 mpg, from businessweek, here the complete list of the most fuel-efficient luxury vehicles:
• Acura TSX
• Audi A3 2.0T
• BMW 328i
• BMW Z4 Roadster
• Infiniti G37 Coupe
• Jaguar S-Type
• Lexus RX 400h
• Lincoln MKZ
• Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec
• Porsche Boxster
• Porsche Cayman
• Saab 9-3 2.0 Liter
• Volvo C30
• Volvo V50 2.4i
