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 usage, the term may be applied to any vehicle type—including sedan, coupe, hatchback, station wagon, and convertible body styles, as well as to minivans, crossovers, or sport utility vehicles and to any size vehicle, from small to large—in any price range. Moreover, there is a convergence in the markets and a resulting confusion of luxury with high price: where there may have been a clear difference in price between luxury and others, there is no longer an absolute separation between premium and luxury, with what may be premium brands now more expensive than the equivalent so-called luxury ones. Automobile manufacturers