There was a time, and it wasn’t so long ago, that “exotic” in terms of automobiles meant coupes and convertibles. Maybe high-end sedans. But those times are behind us as the age of exotic SUVs comes into its own.
Just take a look at some of the high-end high-riders present at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year: Range Rovers, of course, and Porsches (as are now commonplace). But Bentleys, Maseratis, and Alfa Romeos, too.
Present and accounted for at this year’s festival were examples of the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Maserati Levante, Bentley Bentayga, Range Rover Velar, Porsche Cayenne, and Mercedes-Benz G-Class, among others – big-buck sport-utes and crossovers that skimp on neither the luxury nor the performance.
What’s more is that this market is only growing. Soon Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce will be introducing pricey, prestigious, and powerful crossovers of their own. Even Lotus, long the advocate of lightweight sports cars, has one in the works. BMW has a new top-of-the-line X7 in the works, and Mercedes may finally launch a Maybach sport-ute before long as well. And the existing players will inevitably respond with higher-end competitors of their own. So if you haven’t already, you’d better get used to the idea, because even as fuel prices rise, government regulations constrict, and automakers focus increasingly on alternative modes of propulsion, this is a market segment that’s here to stay.
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