Porsche, Lexus, Mercedes most prestigious luxury automobile brands.

America's wealthy rated Porsche the most prestigious luxury automobile for 2006 in an objective and independent survey just released by the New York-based Luxury Institute. Porsche led the field on brand uniqueness and exclusivity, being the brand most driven by people who are admired and respected, and making customers feel special across the entire experience. Lexus, which won handily on superior quality, continued to climb in luxury status, displacing BMW, which came in fourth. Importantly, Lexus was also the brand that most aware wealthy consumers are willing to refer.

"We are gratified that for the second time in a row a majority of discriminating, sophisticated owners has rated Porsche the number one luxury brand," said Peter Schwarzenbauer, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America. "It reaffirms our belief that by remaining true to our sports car values and history the Porsche brand maintains its position as one of the world's most respected and desirable names."
Thirteen luxury automobile brands were rated overall including Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes, Porsche, Saab, and Volvo. Using LBSI, the Luxury Institute surveyed a nationally representative valid and reliable statistical sample of more than 500 households with a minimum of $200,000 in gross annual income and minimum net worth of at least $750,000 (including home equity).

"The auto industry is one of the most well covered in terms of consumer surveys," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. "However, luxury automobile executives need to know how their best prospects and customers, who, according to the Federal Reserve control 70% of all the wealth in the United States, rate their brands. Even within the wealth segments there are major differences in ratings. For example, wealthy women rate Porsche much higher on price worthiness than men, pointing to a major marketing opportunity. In addition, the referrals of wealthy non-owners can influence purchase as much as those of owners. For example, in this year's survey, Lexus is by far the most referred brand regardless of which brand wealthy consumers own."

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wow so bmw fell..wasent expecting that..

PS
good for porsche and MB*

Impressive.... no surprise with Mercedes.... Go Porsche!!!

That's right.

I 'm surprised that BMW lost a spot to Toyota-Lexus. How is that possible?

Not suprising at all. There is nothing more striking than placing your Porsche or Benz keys on a table where you and people you just have met are eating dinner.

Title is misleading... implies that the both Porsche and Merc are named most prestigious... while in truth only Porsche was named #1... Merc #2, Lexus #3.

Porsche and Mercedes I can understand, but Lexus....The devil is a liar!

My, my aren't we a little, or more, biased,... as ever.
Anyway, Porsche is something I was expecting, since probably Ferrari, Lambo, Bugatti, Aston Martin, were not there.
The big surprise is Lexus.
But as long as BMW sells more cars in USA than MB I couldn't care less.

Why are some of you suprised at the strength of the Lexus brand. Afterall, it is the leader in the US premium car market, both in terms of sales and brand equity. I'm a little suprised that MB is still up there, but I guess since this survey was taken by the the wealthy, they weren't all that concerned with MB's quality issues, or they've already forgiven them with the new MB's coming out with better quality.
I'm sure BMW are a little peeved off at this. Sales are good in the US but the strength of the brand in the US market of the wealthy isn't where they'd want it to be. On the other hand though, BMW isn't all that focused on appealing to the wealthy. Ofcourse they have expensive cars, but they are more inclined to focus on those who are young at heart and enjoying an exciting drive, hence why in USA their motto is 'Ultimate Driving Machine', whereas, all other parts of the globe it is "Sheer Driving Pleasure".

What I don't get is Porsche being labelled a "luxury" car maker. Prestigious? yes. Exotic? yes. Performance orientated? yes...but Luxury? that word doesn't come to me when I think Porsche.

Either way... Congrats to Prosche, MB and Lexus.

First of all I`d like to give Yannis credit for bringing fresh and insiteful news
to us GermanCarZoners.

Now for the news, If your in the top 3, your really in the spotlight!
I wouldn`t expect anything less from Porsche, congrats for taking 1st place! Mercedes-Benz is really coming back in a big way with quality
and being in second place just proves it!
Lexus taking the 3rd spot away from BMW is a surprise! Thay really have moved up in the world. When the new LS comes to the US it`s really going to make an impression.

Audi was included in this test as well. I wonder where thay placed.