1999 Luxury Cars: Wheels Of Progress

Nation's Business, Nov 1, 1998 by Julie Candler

Manufacturers are tapping technology to add sophisticated electronics to the offerings in this booming market.

Nothing makes car buyers want to indulge themselves more than the kid-in-a-candy-store feeling they get when they look over a well-designed and well-built luxury car. And the temptations are more numerous than ever for model year 1999.

The market for luxury and so-called near-luxury cars is booming. According to Ward's Automotive Reports in Southfield, Mich., sales of these cars for this year through August were about 844,000, well ahead of last year's pace. Sales for the full year are expected to exceed last year's total of about 1 million.

What's driving the luxury-car market? Baby boomers, says Christopher Cedergren, managing director of Nextrend, an automotive marketing consultancy in Thousand Oaks Calif. Many boomers-including a large contingent of small-business owners, Cedergren notes-are moving into their affluent years.

"They love to spend their money on luxury goods," says Cedergren. "The strongest-selling vehicles are the higher-priced models."

That may be so, but in many cases manufacturers have raised prices for 1999 only slightly, and the base prices for some models are lower than they were for 1998.

Jay Houghton, director of automotive marketing in the Southfield office of A.T. Kearney, Inc., a market-research firm in Chicago, says there has been a move back to luxury cars from comparably priced sport-utility vehicles. Houghton says buyers are realizing that "a good luxury sedan will outperform an SUV." Adds Houghton: "At present, domestic manufacturers are wishing the boom was louder for them. The biggest luxury demand now is for the imports."

Houghton and Cedergren say much of the consumer appeal of luxury cars is in the electronics, and the thriving market for luxury cars is motivating automakers to add sophisticated technology to their lineups. On one model, the Saab 9-5, the front seats contain tiny fans that cool the car's occupants quickly, and the glove compartment is refrigerated.

Some automakers have replaced cigarette lighters with power receptacles that can be used for cellular phones, radar detectors, fax machines, laptop computers, and more.

Even the task of driving has become easier with innovations such as Mercedes-Benz's electronic stability program, or ESP. The system acts against skidding and sliding by maintaining the driver's intended direction. When ESP senses a disparity, it immediately selects and applies one or more brakes to help the driver maintain control.

In the following descriptions of 1999 cars' major features and innovations, luxury models are listed in the first group, near-luxury models in the second. Some prices do not include destination charges, and if prices for 1999 models were not available, 1998 prices are given.

Two-seater roadsters such as the Chevrolet Corvette and the Porsche Boxster are not covered in this article because of their limited production numbers. Unless otherwise noted, the vehicles described have front-wheel drive.

Over $35,000

BMW

Two handsome, four-door wagons, the rear-wheel-drive 528i and the 540i, arrived in October. The five-passenger midsize vehicles are derived from sports sedans introduced in model year 1997. The 528i ($41,270) is powered by a 2.8-liter, 193horsepower, six-cylinder engine and offers sporty option packages. The engine in the 540i ($54,050) is a 4.4-liter, 282-horsepower V-8; options include a cold-weather package with heating for the front seats and steering wheel.

CADILLAC

The seats of the DeVille d'Elegance, DeVille Concours, Eldorado Touring Coupe, and Seville STS ($41,960 to $47,660 for 1998) have an optional massaging system. A Bose entertainment system that receives digital data such as stock quotes and traffic conditions along with radio transmissions is standard on the Eldorado Touring Coupe.

INFINITI

The full-size, five-passenger Q45 ($48,695) has its analog clock at the center of the instrument panel. The headlight styling has been revised, and the xenon headlamps provide excellent visibility. The front grille's chrome area has been reduced.

JAGUAR

The four-door XJ series sedans have a 4liter AJ-V8 engine. Each of the rear-wheel-drive vehicles-the XJ8, the XJ8L, the Vanden Plas, and the XJR ($55,200 to $68,450)-seats five passengers.

LINCOLN

Side air bags, which provide head protection in side impacts, are standard for the driver and front passenger of the full-size Continental four-door sedan ($38,995). The horsepower of the 4.6-liter V-8 has been increased to 275 from 260, and the audio system is new.

The full-size, six-passenger Town Car (also $38,995), a four-door sedan, also has side air bags and a new audio system. A fold-down armrest in the center of the rear seating area is standard on the Executive series.

MERCEDES-BENZ

A slightly shorter and lower-to-the-ground S-Class ($65,295 for 1998) is to debut in the spring of 1999.

The rear-wheel-drive E-Class sedans ($42,400 to $51,300) offer side-impact protection-called Windowbag--as standard. The "air curtain"--which is 6 feet long, 14 inches high, and 2 inches thick-works with door-mounted side air bags to protect front and rear occupants.