Also, I made a reservation at the Fremont factory today. Took around 15 mins including line, but I went in around 10:30-11am. I'd estimate there were around 600 people before me in the morning. Fairly certain they will hit 100k before the stream starts.
Since when is a car under 35K is considered luxury?
I don't know if I agree with the naming conventions but it seems appropriate when coupled with the article on wiki [0]
Brand new cars like Honda Fit and Ford Focus are $15k. Nissan Maxima / Honda Accord is ~$22k starting.
$35k is where BMW and Lexus start. He's still competing against the luxury segment, but "entry" luxury.
Edit: Mercedec CLA is considered a luxury vehicle in a different class (just like you mentioned SUVs and trucks), it's a compact car, compact cars have a different starting price compared to the class we were talking about, thus it's considered luxury in that class.
The Mercedes Benz CLA starts at $32k. Its considered a luxury vehicle by everyone I know, including Wikipedia.
Argue with someone else, like whoever wrote the Wikipedia article. A "luxury vehicle" is anything basically any sedan above $30k. There are a ton of vehicles below $20k, and plenty between $20k and $30k.
Vans and Trucks are a bit different, because they provide extra utility and often cost $30k+. Luxury SUVs, Vans, and Trucks are closer to $40k to $50k.
Most people I know don't even have new cars for crying out loud, and "new" is basically a luxury.
I'd never call a Porsche a luxury car because I consider them sports cars, even though many of their model lines are not particularly sporty anymore. Bentley/Rolls/etc are in a whole entirely different splashy show-off league where even many billionaires wouldn't buy one, simply because they're too ostentatious.
What's hilarious here is that you call the CLA (which is a bargain basement car) luxury, while a 3 series is not. Seriously, compare them. The 3er is a larger car and it's nicer. IF you're saying a CLA is luxury "in that class", then so is a 3 series.
But my Golf is nicer than a CLA. Of course, it's not considered a luxury car either, which is part of the appeal :)
I never called it luxury, I was referring to a link from wikipedia where it says it is a "luxury compact car".
My original point was in response to a comment (that is now edited) that model 3 does not look luxury for what it costs. My point was that none of the cars in that price range look luxury if you compare them to a higher priced cars.
"Luxury car", and "luxury car in a specific class" have different meanings in my opinion. You can't blame model 3 for not looking luxury, if other cars in that price range look the same and have almost the same set of features.
The Model 3's trunk AND frunk are abnormally short, kinda reminds me of the Honda Fit in some ways: save on costs by cutting back on the trunk and front of the vehicle... but put emphasis on the cabin space so that things feel comfortable from inside.
I'm willing to bet that the car feels larger on the inside than it looks... but from the outside... comparisons to the Mercedes CLA / BMW 3-series seem appropriate. I'll have to wait for the damn thing to come out to know for sure of course.
But in any case, that means that the Model 3 should probably still be considered a luxury vehicle. Compact-size at $35,000 starting? Yeah, that's luxury-class cost.
The hive mind of Wikipedia considers the marketing segment to include the Audi A4 and the BMW 3-series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxury_vehicle#Luxury_market_s...
Enterprise Rent-a-Car runs a Lincoln MKZ or similar: https://www.enterprise.com/en/car-rental/vehicles/us/cars/lu...
Car and Driver includes a bunch: http://www.caranddriver.com/flipbook/swank-for-less-bank-ent...
From Wikipedia.
Adding what is effectively the price of another car ($15-20k) onto that is a luxury. Pretty much paying double the price you need to pay is something I'd consider a luxury regardless of the class of good.
Source: I paid $12k for a 2 year old car.
Honda Fit, etc as well are in that price range new:
http://automobiles.honda.com/tools/build-price/trims.aspx?Mo...
A Toyota Prius is an economy sedan with a surprisingly large back seat.
A Subaru BRZ is a small 4-seat sport coupe.
Your comparison can't possibly be valid because it's all over the map. From what I've seen, it IS a small sedan in the vein of a 3-series of A4 (larger than a Civic, smaller than an Accord).
Cough Star Citizen Cough ;)
As far as the Derek Smart guy that somebody linked, he's a nutter who likes the attention from his doomsday predictions of Star Citizen falling apart (it's the only reason anyone's every heard of him). Most famous for claiming last October [1] that Cloud Imperium Games would run out of money and collapse within 90 days.
Obviously it's been longer than that and development is still moving along. Alpha doesn't have a huge amount to do in the universe yet, but it's very playable. For example: the most recently flyable ship (Khartu-al) [2], and the much larger Starfarer [3] which is mostly done on the art side but not yet flying.
They've said Squadron 42 (single player campaign) will be out this year, with the multiplayer universe following sometime after.
Derek Smart was an internet celebrity in the 90's. He was well known for his bombastic statements and engaging in flame wars about his own game, Battle Cruiser 3000AD.