​            It seems that every year someone tries their hand at the luxury market, but forgets to realize that you have to have the street-cred and name to go along with luxury.  And some others forget where they came from and that if they 

​            When you have a hard time selling your luxury brand in your home country what would you do to get some of the luxury market.  Push your premium cars harder than you ever had before.  This year Toyota decided to redo its Crown Majesta to meet the needs of consumers who need full sized cars.  

​            Okay you’re a company who is trying to move up in the world and you have just won every award you can, what do you do next.  You build a halo car that will launch the company into the premium/luxury world.  Yes, I am talking about the all new 2010 Hyundai Equus.  This is one model which Hyundai hopes will help turn it into a full-scale luxury company.  

​            Yes, we are serious that our next model is an actual car.  This is actually Geely’s attempt at a pure luxury car.  But when you’re building a car that the political figures of your country are going to ride around in, then why not model it after a Rolls Royce.  

​            I never thought that I would see the day when a Buick actually was cool.  Ever since the demise of the Grand National back in the 80’s, Buick has been on a long road to the seniors home.  Now it seems that Buick is on a one-way track to suburbia.  

​         Our next segment may be one which has been around for awhile and has been called many different names.  But today it seems that ever since Mercedes-Benz released the CLS everyone wants into the Saloon market.  It seems that more and more consumers are wanting sedans which look like more like a sports car than a basic sedan.  But when it attracts the likes of Aston Martin and Porsche, then maybe it might be a bit too much. 

​            Back in the 1970’s Porsche had the bright idea to create a four-door car to help boost its sales.  Lucky for us it never got past the initial thought stage.  Then back in the 1980’s when Porsche started producing front engine cars it again had the idea of creating a sedan.  They went as far as to creating an actual concept.  But back then they thought that it would diminish the perception of the brand.  

​            It seems like it was just a couple of months ago when Audi first introduced the world to its halo coupe.  But when they stated that more variations of the A5 would be created we all thought they meant that an S, convertible, racing and maybe a diesel version.  But it actually meant an S version and a sports saloon.  

​            A couple of years ago I was at the Detroit auto show and I noticed that Aston Martin had a car on a turn table.  It seemed odd at first since most times they just display their cars.  But when I saw that the concept was a four-door version of the then DB9 I knew that Mercedes had something to worry about.  Now a couple of years down the road and here we are talking about the 2010 Aston Martin Rapide sedan.  

​            Now when you get to see what Honda has released this year it is not hard to see why Toyota is not scared at all.  When you can take the simple looking Prius and make it into the 2010 Lexus HS 250h then you know you can do anything.  Coming from the company who essentially created the hybrid market, it seems that it was a no brainer