Autoline #1435: Champagne Wishes

Champagne Wishes

Celebrity and luxury have been part of our culture since the beginning. But that potent combination didn't truly take off until about twenty-five years ago when television host Robin Leach made "champagne wishes and caviar dreams" our daily mantra. Suddenly greed was good, TV cops became Armani models and we all worshiped the people and products consumed nightly on the juggernaut "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."

That was the springboard that brought us to today's luxury-satiated society where even ten year olds discuss the merits of Louis Vuitton's latest. We're now undeniably smack dab in the middle of a pop culture that's in love with luxury; and don't think any of this has been lost on certain companies that make cars.

The American luxury car market used to be just a few select players that came from Italy, Germany and the UK with a couple of homegrowns thrown in for good measure. Today the list of both cars and countries have exploded. But how has the market grown, who are today's players and which customer is buying what?

Joining John McElroy for a look at today's luxury car market is an all dealer panel who pretty much have all the brands covered. Ken Meade of Meade Lexus is one of the brand's original dealers whose stores continue to be among the brand's top-sellers in the Midwest while Chris Consiglio is the Group General Manger of the Eitel Dahm Motor Group who handles three different high-end brands from Germany. And rounding out the panel is a man with a multitude of luxury brands to look after. Rob Kurnick is the president of Penske Automotive Group which operates 325 dealerships which nearly half could be considered luxury -- everything from Bugatti to Rolls Royce to Cadillac and more.