Features That Make a Luxury Car

Luxury vehicles routinely promise premium features traditionally unavailable in nonluxury cars. But these features are no longer so exclusive: Heated leather seats, for example, can be had on an $18,000 Chevy Cobalt. With premium content moving across the market, luxury automakers must differentiate themselves by piling on even more equipment, said Mike Marshall, director of emerging automotive technology at J.D. Power and Associates. The result: Technologically advanced items such as intelligent remote entry and adaptive cruise control join leather and wood to create the modern luxury vehicle. Erich Merkle, an automotive analyst at research firm IRN Inc., joined Marshall and resident expert Joe Wiesenfelder in contributing to this list of features you can expect to find in different luxury segments.