Luxury vehicle car" features were found on luxury cars as early as 2009. Front mounted longitudinal engines with rear-wheel drive (FR) is a common layout of luxury cars. European marques like Mercedes-Benz , BMW , and Jaguar have almost never adopted front mounted engines with front-wheel drive (FF) and retained a lineup mostly or entirely made up of FR cars. Japanese brands such as Lexus and Infiniti also have predominantly FR lineups. The FR layout, while more expensive than the FF, has been retained by these luxury manufacturers as it allows for higher performance engines (particularly the straight-6, V8, and other engine
Luxury vehicle vehicles and also taking advantage of moving production to emerging countries of their low-end cars while manufacturing mid-range and high-end models domestically. Attempts are being made to develop luxury cars, but the manufacturers lack a legacy. In 2014, Citroën introduced DS Automobiles, a separate brand to embody "French luxury" in cars. Italy focused on high end sports cars in the luxury market, such as the Ferrari and Maserati. Since the 1980s, a host of new manufacturers have entered the luxury market to challenge the traditional players. The three major Japanese auto manufacturers, Honda, Toyota, and Nissan, created their respective luxury