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 and safety. Luxury vehicles are also a status symbol for conspicuous consumption. Contemporary luxury cars also offer higher performance and better handling, which is often known as sport luxury. However, in Europe, where large-displacement engines are often heavily taxed and many luxury buyers shy away from conspicuous consumption, brands offer buyers the option of removing exterior engine-identifying badges. Forbes noted that the reputation of luxury marques enables them to continually introduce many new safety technologies and comfort amenities, such as anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control and DVD entertainment systems, long before they trickle down to mass market cars. Numerous "smart