Jump LinksThe Key Ingredients Of A Luxury CarGenesisPorscheLand RoverVolvoAcuraCadillacAudiMercedes-BenzLexusBMWWhether or not you will ever have the chance to own one, cars from luxury brands seem to capture our collective imagination more than any other - save perhaps those multi-million-dollar hypercars like the Ferrari F80. Ever since the car replaced the horse and carriage, there have been people wanting a car they can use as a status symbol. Automobiles with a greater level of comfort and prestige have, therefore, been around since the very start, and the demand for them has given rise to many different luxury car brands, many of which are some of the most iconic automakers in the world today.We all know names like Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz, and many newer brands have arrived on the scene since these manufacturers started doing business. But which of all the makers of luxury cars is currently the most successful? With so many brands and models having the word “luxury” associated with them, what is actually part of this elite club of automobiles and what isn’t? What Defines A Luxury Car? Mercedes-Benz If you look up the definition of luxury in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, you will see that it defines the term as abundance or great ease and comfort, and something that is not absolutely necessary. It is the first and last part of that definition that quite possibly best sums up what a luxury car has to be. No one really needs a Rolls-Royce or a Maybach - they are defined by excess in every way. If a luxury car is used merely as a tool, and seen as a means of getting from A to B, then is it really a luxury car? The Key Ingredients Of A Luxury Car Quality Technology Performance Price Jaguar Any car that can legitimately be described as a luxury model will meet all of these criteria, even if the different cars we will be discussing feature these ingredients to varying degrees. It goes without saying that a luxury car has to have a certain level of quality to set it apart from all the other humdrum vehicles people pay far less money for. The best luxury cars will feel very solidly put together and all the materials you touch, and even the ones you don’t, should look and feel high-end.Luxury cars throughout history have always been at the cutting edge of car technology, incorporating comfort and convenience features, be they Rolls-Royce’s self-leveling suspension or Mercedes’ pre-safe technology. While some people describe performance cars as luxury cars, the two aren’t necessarily one and the same thing. A luxury car needs plenty of power to stay ahead of lesser vehicles, but they don't chase the fastest lap times. The first three things pretty much guarantee the last thing: a high price tag.This article gives a rundown of the best luxury brands, ranking the ten most successful luxury brands in terms of sales from lowest to highest in the year 2024 - the most recent year there is complete industry data from. Top 10 Luxury Car Brands In America Luxury car brands are automakers where most or all of the cars they make fit the above criteria for a luxury car. For example, Volkswagen might have made some premium vehicles in the past, like the Phaeton and the Touareg, but the maker of the people’s car is overall not seen as a luxury brand. Similarly, when you look at the quality and price point of cars made by Volvo, it is hard not to see it as a luxury brand despite it being known primarily as a maker of family cars. Below are the ten most successful luxury car brands in terms of the number of vehicles sold in the last full financial year: Genesis - 75,003 Units GenesisThe tenth best-selling luxury car brand in America is very much a newcomer, being a sub-brand of the Hyundai Automotive group whose first car, the G70, went on sale as recently as 2017. Genesis has gone on to establish itself as a worthy rival to the premium German manufacturers like BMW and Audi through vehicles that have a similar amount of style and features, yet undercut competitors on price. Genesis’ best-selling vehicle in the States is currently the GV70 SUV. Porsche - 76,187 Units PorschePorsche is a good example of how performance cars can also be luxury cars, and vice versa. All Porsches, save for the most hardcore 911 and 718 models, have some of the most well-appointed interiors out there, and will cosset like a Mercedes sedan at low speeds. Having traditionally been a sports carmaker, Porsche needed to do something different to continue to survive, and so it brought out the Cayenne SUV in 2004. Twenty years later, the best-selling Porsche model was in fact an SUV, in the form of the Macan that followed in the Cayenne's footsteps. Land Rover - 94,994 Units Land RoverLand Rover started out just after the Second World War as a maker of all-terrain off-road vehicles. Land Rovers of today still have plenty of off-road ability, but they have morphed into leather-adorned status symbols and no model represents that better than the Range Rover. The Range Rover has enjoyed best-selling status here for years, but surprisingly, the Defender has overtaken it recently. After previously being a no-frills utility vehicle, it now properly represents Land Rover’s transformation into a luxury car brand. Volvo - 125,243 Units Volvo The only Swedish automaker on this list, Volvo has flown a little more under the radar, favoring Scandinavian minimalism over bling. Volvo is also known for an almost obsessive focus on passenger safety, having invented the seatbelt, blind-spot detection, and fitting many more safety features as standard where they would be options on other cars. Its best-selling model might have previously been a wagon, but as with most automakers today, SUVs are the big sellers, the biggest of them all for Volvo in ’24 is the XC60. Acura - 132,367 Units AcuraAcura is, like Genesis, a more upmarket sub-brand of another, more mass-market automaker. Honda created the Acura brand in the 1980s with the specific goal of competing with American luxury brands at the exact time the oil crisis of the time made them unaffordable for many. Acura’s cars might not be quite as plush as their German equivalents, but they still offer the comfort, style, and premium features of their rivals while being cheaper to buy and maintain. The current top-seller for the brand is the roomy MDX three-row SUV. Cadillac - 160,204 Units Cadillac One of the oldest and most enduring luxury names, Cadillac is the most popular American luxury automaker and the only one that makes it into the top ten bestsellers. It invented the electric engine starter and mass production of V8 models, like the Eldorado and Escalade, has had a huge cultural impact. The Escalade has also had a huge sales impact, being the best-selling Cadillac model for over a decade. The recent electrification of the Escalade with the IQ has only broadened its appeal. Audi - 196,580 Units Audi One of the three German luxury heavy hitters, it is easy to forget Audi was largely seen as a poor relation to BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the previous century. Through producing more upscale cars and pitching itself as a more youthful alternative to those other German brands, Audi has become one of the most popular luxury car brands in America. Despite seeing a decline in sales from the previous year, the comfy and quiet Q5 remained Audi’s best-selling model, although the Q3 was not far behind, in 2024. Mercedes-Benz - 324,530 Units Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz has the unique honor of being able to claim that it invented the automobile. Since it did so 140 years ago, it has consistently set the standard for luxury, and brought huge innovations that have changed the car forever. It might not quite be in the same league as Rolls-Royce in terms of luxury mystique, but Mercedes has a slightly more mainstream premium appeal like Rolls’ owner, BMW. As a result, the best-selling Mercedes-Benz model is its midsize family SUV, the GLE. Lexus - 345,670 Units Lexus It has become slightly cliché to refer to Lexus as the Japanese Mercedes, but in terms of quality and comfort, Lexus is right up there with the historic German moniker, and in terms of vehicle sales, it is actually ahead. The RX is a longstanding model in Lexus’ lineup and has been the best-selling one ever since it was first introduced in 1998. This is thanks to its space, solid reliability, and it being one of the earliest examples of hybrid efficiency in a family SUV. BMW - 371,370 Units BMW After having identified the contributors to the success of all the other expensive car brands on this list, BMW tops it because it has them all. Like the previous three automakers, BMW has a diverse range of upscale vehicles, from hatchbacks to sedans to SUVs, and the choice of a wide range of gas, electric and hybrid powertrains has all helped. Ever since the first-generation X5 was debuted in the 1990s, it has been a smash hit, and the X5 is, as of 2024, the biggest money printer for the brand. Expensive Car Brands That Are Luxury Leaders Rolls-Royce You may have noticed that some of the most prestigious and exclusive luxury brands are missing from this list. That is not because they aren’t doing well, but rather because they sell cars in far fewer numbers to only the most well-endowed buyers, and offer far more customization options for those willing to pay. The first brands that come to mind when we think of this elite club are inevitably British ones like Bentley and Rolls-Royce. The Bentayga is effectively Bentley’s flagship model after the death of the Mulsanne, and the Rolls-Royce Phantom has quite simply been the best car to be driven in since it arrived in 2003. You could also include Bugatti in this group, as the maker of the fastest and most expensive cars on the planet, it's got two pillars of luxury covered, but since pre-war times, its cars have been grand tourers, so comfort in a Bugatti is also key. Maybach is just about the only German rival to Bentley and Rolls-Royce, but it exists merely as a sub-brand of Mercedes after being its own entity back in the 2000s. Most Popular Car Brands That Became Luxury For Joe Everyman Acura Though luxury cars are meant to be all about exclusivity, there are those of us who still want a car that is built to be more than just a means of getting around. For people who don’t want to fork out the extra cash, especially when, with some luxury cars, you are mainly paying for the name, there are some automakers that make premium cars without a brand tax. You could get a used Mercedes or Bentley for less, but the cost of new parts if something goes wrong is the same as it would be for a new one.Acura established itself as the thinking person’s luxury carmaker back in the 1980s, with solid Honda underpinnings, but a more upmarket look and feel. The first Lexus, the LS perfectly encapsulates what Toyota’s luxury sub-brand is all about, through being more over-engineered than the already over-engineered S class, all while being more reliable and somehow less expensive. Nissan’s answer to Lexus was Infiniti, and after having moderate success in the past, it has faded from view slightly as it struggled to find a clear identity for itself. That is what Genesis has done so well, establishing itself as the Zen luxury carmaker. While Range Rovers, Bentleys, and Bugattis will always feature more heavily in rap lyrics, these are the brands that make luxury that bit more accessible.