Slash and Burn: How Much Money Has Your Luxury Brand Put On The Hood To Move Inventory?

Luxury auto brands like Cadillac, BMW and Bentley have long touted power, sexy styling and exclusivity to attract well-to-do consumers.

But that's not enough these days.

The depths of the recent recession, a backlash against conspicuous consumption and cutbacks in leasing offers have taken a bite out of the conventional wisdom that luxury brands are resistant to financial downturns.

The proof isn't just in the nearly 32% dip in luxury auto sales, which is worse than industry-wide declines. Luxury brands now are offering incentives that rival those on pickups and SUVs and using new marketing approaches that focus on fuel efficiency.