Luxury vehicle and Mercedes-Benz C-Class which particularly emphasize sporty handling. In the United States and Canada these vehicles, and larger premium offerings at the same market position, are known as entry-level luxury cars. The American and Canadian classification of entry-level luxury (formerly dominated by premium marques e.g. Buick, Oldsmobile, Mercury, Chrysler) is a broad category which includes not only compact executive cars, but also midsize to large cars and SUVs such as the Lexus ES, Acura TL, and Buick LaCrosse being similar in price to the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. However, the ES, TL, and LaCrosse do not fall under
Personal luxury car . This marketing approach was also used in Japan, where the early 1970s saw the introduction of the Toyota Crown coupe, followed by the coupe versions of the Nissan Cedric and Nissan Gloria, and the Mazda Luce. In the 1980s the Toyota Soarer, Nissan Leopard, Mazda Cosmo, and the Honda Legend were popular with Japanese buyers. Throughout the 1970s American "personal luxury" cars grew ever larger, heavier, and more luxurious. By the early 1980s, however, they were typically equipped with either a V6 or a dramatically detuned V8 engine in order to comply with increasingly strict vehicle emissions standards. In