Filed under: Acura, BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche
Porsche most desirable brand among stinking rich
The Luxury Institute surveyed 1,642 affluent Americans to see which brands stood out among the crowd of luxury automakers, and Porsche made out as the overall winner. The survey participants make an average of $349,000 per year and have a net worth of $3.7 million, and they're surveyed on customer service, quality, exclusivity, and that overall warm and fuzzy feeling one gets about a given brand. Porsche received high marks for its uniqueness in the marketplace, as well as for the company's strong focus and attention to detail.
Lexus and Mercedes rounded out the top three, with Lexus achieving the highest overall purchase consideration and Mercedes receiving demerits for its past ownership of Chrysler. Ouch. BMW finished in fourth place, due in part to Bimmer fans' displeasure over the brand's styling and overly complicated tech like iDrive. Japanese automakers scored highest with regards to customer satisfaction, with Lexus, Acura, and Infinity landing in the top three overall. Cadillac, which was ranked first in customer satisfaction last year, fell into a tie for fourth place in this year's survey. Lincoln was deemed to have the least desirable brand status in the survey, as Ford's luxury arm finished dead last in the field of 12. Maybe the new MKS sedan will drive Lincoln out of the basement in next year's survey.
[Source: Marketing Daily via Motor Authority]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jason 1:04PM (6/03/2008)
I find it pretty desirable and I'm stinking poor.
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MJK 1:19PM (6/03/2008)
I'm with you on that one!
Luis 2:04PM (6/03/2008)
Ditto that!
Franz 2:04PM (6/03/2008)
I was just gonna say that, but you beat me to it. lol
Azael 4:01PM (6/03/2008)
Someday, I will own a Porsche.... or two, or three, or more!
Someday...
993C4S 6:34PM (6/03/2008)
I talk to a lot of Porsche owners and I know quite a few don't fit into these demographics. That doesn't mean they aren't true, but a few real high net worth individuals in a small sample can really impact "averages."
http://993c4s.com/porsche-culture/porsche-and-the-price-of-gas/
http://993c4s.com/posche-news/porsche%c2%ae-named-top-prestigious-luxury-automobile-brand-for-2008-by-luxury-institute-again/
LeRobert 1:10PM (6/03/2008)
What about Aston Martin? =(
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geo.stewart 1:31PM (6/03/2008)
evidently Aston, Maserati, Ferrari are deemed outside the reach of those polled on a standard basis.
LeRobert 1:44PM (6/03/2008)
An AMV8 is in the price range of a 911 though.
ALEXDB9 2:26PM (6/03/2008)
ASTON!!!! I thought the exact same thing, you can get an 08 V8V for 120k, less than a Turbo, I believe. You a fellow owner?
AndreK 1:11PM (6/03/2008)
Not surprising, Porsche makes great cars.
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thewisard67 1:17PM (6/03/2008)
its INFINITI not Infinity
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MachinaDC5 1:22PM (6/03/2008)
I was going to say something as well... I feel bad for Infiniti; nobody can ever get their name right.
Ken Stamper 1:28PM (6/03/2008)
They deserve the confusion for putting their damn name in caps. Am I supposed to shout their name in anger everytime I say it?
RPM 1:29PM (6/03/2008)
How is it that the writers on Autoblog have such bad spelling? You guys at least need to know how to spell the major automotive brands.
porschedevotee 4:41PM (6/03/2008)
and it's TheWizard, not thewisard. :P
j/k, I have no idea what your handle means anyway, so I'm gonna shush now.
@RPM: yeah, I've even seen them spell Ferrari as "Ferarri" and Porsche as "Porshe". Those two made me cry.
EuropaCar 1:18PM (6/03/2008)
net worth 3.7 million??
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rsfourever 1:39PM (6/03/2008)
yea i laughed at that too... that's not terribly rich. peopel with a net worth of $3.7 million can barely afford a second home, much less ultra-expensive supercars like lamborghinis and bentleys. really, in the sub-100k market, porsche is the only brand available to be desired...
beanspants 2:15PM (6/03/2008)
Not terribly rich? Says who? There are only 2 million people in the US with a cash net worth of over $1mm. The median net worth for people with over $1mm is $4 mm, so the group they surveyed was basically among the wealthiest people in the US.
So with a little math, 1.2/300 = .32%. seems pretty wealthy to me.
pacman 2:25PM (6/03/2008)
$3.7M puts one in the top 1% of the world in wealth. Actually only $500K will put you there. So I guess stinking rich is relative to one's perspective.