WSJ: Car Makers Pitch Power as the Ultimate Luxury

[Bruce Nunnally]

In an era when a car's appeal seems largely defined by greener-than-thou engines and cooler-than-thou infotainment apps, luxury auto makers are looking for buyers who value a decidedly more old-fashioned attribute: hard-driving horsepower.

Big luxury brands are hoping to expand an elite market of drivers who are drawn to high-end performance vehicles engineered to racing standards, cars like BMW's BMW.XE +2.63% M series, Audi's NSU.XE 0.00% RS models, Cadillac's V-series and Mercedes-Benz's AMG line. These extreme performers have upward of 500 horsepower under the hood (more than double what's in a garden-variety luxury sedan) and can zip from a stop to 60 miles per hour in 4 seconds or less—all while burning gas more wantonly than a big pickup truck.

 

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