Luxury vehicle design and engineering". Aimed at wealthy buyers, such automobiles might be generically termed "luxury cars". This term is also used for unique vehicles produced during "an era when luxury was individualistic consideration, and coachwork could be tailored to an owner like a bespoke suit." Although there is considerable literature about specific marques, there is a lack of systematic and scholarly work that "analyzes the luxury car phenomenon itself." Luxury vehicle makers may either be stand-alone companies in their own right, such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, or a division/subsidiary of a mass market automaker (e.g., Lexus is part of Toyota). Badge
Luxury vehicle is known as the compact executive car in Britain where it specifies both the price range and vehicle dimensions. In the U.S., there is a broader category called entry-level luxury, which includes the bottom vehicles in the line-up of luxury brands as well as the top-of-the-line models of some non-luxury brands. Dimensionally, compact executive cars are smaller than mid-size cars and sometimes even smaller than compact/small family cars. Mass market compact cars typically use the economical front wheel drive transverse engine layout, well suited to the inline-4 engine, which also maximizes interior room. Most compact executive cars are rear-wheel drive