Luxury vehicle growing interest in luxury vehicles from emerging markets such as China and Russia. The entry-level luxury segment has been very competitive, and there has been price-overlapping with well-equipped non-luxury cars. For example, in Canada, several luxury manufacturers set sales records in August 2009, due mostly to aggressive incentives on entry-level luxury vehicles. In September 2009, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Audi all saw their Canadian sales increase by more than 10 per cent compared to a year earlier, despite overall Canadian auto sales being down 3.5 per cent compared to September 2008. The head of Mercedes-Benz Canada suggested that the brand
Luxury vehicle an export powerhouse during this period, building on success with the Mercedes-Benz brand, later joined by BMW, which now owns Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, and Volkswagen, which now owns Audi, Bentley, and Lamborghini. In the United States luxury market, Cadillac and Lincoln Motor Company had long been the best-selling and second best-selling luxury brands until 1998, when they were overtaken by Japanese and German brands. These cars were not relevant in most export markets; they were tailored to the U.S. market - moderate price point luxury vehicles not constrained by gasoline pricing. The U.S. developed a special vehicle category, the personal