Somewhere in Tennessee - It wasn't that long ago that the definition of a luxury vehicle was simple and straightforward: leather guts, power doo-hickeys, and swoopy dashboard script were all that was required to eclipse the Joneses in middle-suburbia. Throw in whitewalls, wire wheel covers, and a Landau roof, and some neighbours may have thought you were hobnobbing with heads of state. For vehicles of North American origin, that meant Cadillacs, high-end Chryslers, and Lincolns. And it usually meant Grampa was visiting.
These days, those former features of traditional luxury are available on Honda's and Hyundai's. Heated seats, silky sound systems, and navigation systems are no longer upper echelon; the masses are demanding them. Entry-luxury is a bit of a misnomer; to be cool, hip, and 45-ish in age and price, you're expected to be in a sport sedan that you would drive like a maniac (if you were a professional driver on a closed course, of course).
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