German Car Zone

The Luxury Institute, which bills itself as "the uniquely impartial, independent and objective ratings and research organization that is the global voice of the high net-worth consumer", has conducted a survey of the wealthy and found that Porsche is the "best of the best" when it comes to luxury car brands.

The institute surveyed a sample of 1505 wealthy American consumers with an average income of $278,000 and average net worth of $2.5 million to come up with the results for the luxury auto survey, as well as 1013 ultra-wealthy American consumers with an average income of $489,000 and average investable assets of $6.8 million to generate the result for its ultra-luxury auto survey.

The wealthy among us voted Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus as the best luxury brands, while the super-duper wealthy put Maybach, Rolls-Royce and Bentley at the top of their list. The brands were rated using the proprietary Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI), with Porsche receiving a score of 7.7 out of 10 and Maybach getting a 7.93 out of 10.


Full Article: The Luxury Institute Rates Porsche as Best Luxury Brand


M

Porsche as best luxury? i'd say best sporty and MB best luxury.

Nah, for the ultra-rich MB is a common car, like a Toyota to most of us (I'm not comparing the cars, but what they represent)... while Porsche still represents some prestige for them. I think that's how we have to see this "study."

I prefer the term "Prestige" over luxury to describe brands. The term luxury is over-used and misconstrued and prone to ambiguous interpretation. A 750i is more luxurious than a 911 Turbo but the latter is more prestigious.

So, taken at face value, Porsche is very much a luxury brand - given its prestige factor - but dig a little deeper and the context of luxury becomes debatable. Obviously, certain sports cars within the Porsche range itself lend themselves nicely to the luxury moniker - a 911 Targa and Boxster with PDK come to mind - and then there are cars that are inherently more luxurious such as the Cayenne and now, conveniently, Panamera.

However, no-one can expect a GT3 RS to be called luxurious in any way, given its uncompromising nature, despite it being every bit a highly prestigious acquisition.

Well argued Wimmer but this isn't year 1994. Introducing the 996 Porsche took a giant leap towards becoming a luxury brand while taking a small step away from its former self as manufacturer of a thoroughbred sports car. Today, a 997 has options such as automatic gear wood, wood inserts, telephone, custom leather, sat/nat, sunroof, vented seats and pretty much any option available for a Mercedes. Porsche is no longer synonymous with stripped car interiors

A Porsche is no longer a hostile place of cramped seating, bumpy ride and no in-car entertainment. The 997TT can be tame as a Mercedes while a GT3 has the ability to thrill the driver like a Ferrari can. The product portfolio of the 911 is deep and there is a model in there for anyone ranging from the poseur to the petrol heads.

Then there are obvious luxury cruisers mentioned by Martin, and those certainly put Porsche in the same basket as the big Germans. Porsche has a bipolar personality challenging both the luxury and sport segments, and the Panamera symbolize just that.

Good arguments.

But the Panamera is just one car and pretty new at that. It just can't change the image of a brand overnight. At the moment I am thinking of the Panamera as a Mercedes CLS63 AMG / Aston Martin Rapide competitor, which themselves are small niche vehicles for their respective brands - hardly defining of what the brand is about and so forth.

In order for me to perceive Porsche as a luxury brand that truly wants to rival Mercedes, BMW or Lexus they'll need to offer products that compete with the E-Class, 5er, A6 etc. for example. If we compare some products that could closely compare some products from say Mercedes or Lexus then I can think of the Cayenne, which would be compared to the GL550 and Lexus LX570. The Cayenne will be the sportiest SUV here while the GL and LX570 seem to be more family- and luxury-oriented in the classic sense. Likewise, a Porsche 911 Carrera comparing to the Mercedes SL and Lexus SC will come across as more sports- / driving-oriented. Hardly really a solid comparison since the Jaguar XK and Cadillac XLR seem to follow the same formula as the SL and SC and thus somehow "define" what this class is all about. Even when these cars were compared against each other, I have generally always viewed the Porsche product as an "outsider" due to its heavy focus on sport.

I am not dissing Porsche here, but I personally just don't perceive them as a luxury brand in the sense of Lexus or Mercedes but as a premium sportscar marque. I guess what I want to say is that Porsche may nowadays be perceived as a luxury brand, but I don't see them as such. to me Porsche will always be associated with the labeling "premium sportscar", not "luxury" in the sense that we perceive Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Audi, Lexus etc. to be luxury cars.

Sorry if this doesn't sound to well thought-out but I am writing this from my Adobe InDesign class!!!!

CLS as a Panamera competitor? No way. Even thought I would take a CLS in a heartbeat (I'm not a fan of the hunchback-of-Stuttgart), its hardly a true competitor. MB's competitor to the Panamera would be a 4-door coupe-ish S-class.

And like Martin pointed out, luxury here is seen more as "Prestige" then pure out luxury.

Well the thing is... for über-wealthy people, luxury means presstige like some member said.

Think of it like about wrist-watches. There are mechanical chrono, mechanical watches with moon phase, stylish mechanical skelettons, Quartz-watches.

The chrono (sporty) and mechanical and all od these expensive watches are considered "luxury watches", even if the one is sporty and truly can't compare with the moon-phase or the skeletton one! They still are luxury goods.

Same with cars. In these surveys, luxury doesn't mean comfort or equipment, but the perception of the brand as a luxury good. And here, Porsche fares better than Mercedes, because it's more exiting and rare. However, Ferrari is not elegant enough.

I wonder why Maybach beats Rolls however. Okay it's rare, exclusive, but it doesn't looks as massive, imposing or expensive...

Bingo...that is it exactly!


M