Owning a vehicle bearing the marks of a premium brand used to be a status symbol not that many decades ago.

When you said you had “a Mercedes,” it conjured up a certain image in people’s head, one of class, luxury and a whiff of (understandable) elitism – you too would be a bit of a snob if your windows, boot lit and partition screen were operated by hydraulic actuators just because…

Now, brands have managed to water down their values so much, that it’s really hard to justify paying a premium for premium. Besides, what does that even mean? There are lots of mainstream cars with more or less the same tech as premium cars, comparably classy looks, suitably upmarket feeling interiors and equally strong performance – they all cost less, and aside from not making you smug, there really is no downside to owning one.

I mean, owning “a Mercedes” nowadays could mean you drive a miserly A160 CDI with a Renault-developed four-banger diesel, a similar unit you find in a Dacia. The Three Pointed Star was chosen as an example, since it’s arguably the strongest and most resonant luxury automaker, and actually the one that’s stuck closest to its posh roots.

Yes, it’s all pure capitalism nowadays and the markets are free and superficiality among car buyers seems (to me) to be at an all-time high. It’s not Mercedes that sold out, but it and its kind have had to adapt to an ever changing buyer base and often treacherous economic situations. The luxury automakers are not without fault, though, as they could have done more to preserve their essence.

Another problem I have with the way premium automakers run their operations is the excessive attention they pay to perceived quality. The concept is, by definition, not actual quality, but a kind you merely perceive (see/can touch). It doesn’t refer to the quality of engineering that lurks behind the soft-touch plastics, nicely weighted switches or soft leathers.

Take the recent Consumer Reports reliability survey: aside from first place Lexus (which has its own faults but are different to those exhibited by the older establishment) you really have to look down the list to see the premium names; Mercedes placed a lowly 24th and CR noted that the new S-Class proved to be one of the worst performing, with reliability 127 percent below average.

What I’m trying to get at is the obsession with perceived quality seems to be making the automakers ignore investing in solid engineering. I mean those S-Class buyers must be pretty pissed off, and I’d be too if my new tech-packed luxo-sedan spontaneously combusted while rolling leisurely through southern Deutschland…

When you buy an expensively-badged car, you first and foremost expect it to be dependable, and if that is proven not to be one of its strong suits, then its credibility is shaken. Actual quality to me would equate to first making sure everything works (and will work even after the planned life of a car runs out – paying the utmost attention to the engineering), then doing the perceived bit. This may not apply to all luxo-automakers to the same extent, but the’re all guilty of it (aside from Lexus where everything just seems to work…).

And it’s not just Mercedes that’s letting the premium side down. It’s also BMW, Jaguar, Porsche and so-so Infiniti.

Audi is doing pretty well, though, and even if it may have launched the A1 (as a response to BMW’s MINI), a small city car that is only premium because of perceived quality and not its VW Polo/Skoda Rapid carryover underpinnings and engine range. Optional all-wheel drive does save the A1 and at least constitutes something, but then again you can get that in a Suzuki Swift too…

Yes, this talk of platforms is “so 2009”, but were it not for misleading (and often insulting) marketing practices that are based on the idea that the customer doesn’t know any better and shouldn’t anyway, premium car sales would go down as people smartened up.

It’s not even about the gadgets anymore, because bar some really fancy stuff like night vision and… night vision, there are no features currently exclusively reserved for premium-branded cars. Try to think of something that would be genuinely useful, not power-operated headrests/blinds or gold-plated, platinum-infused ivory trim pieces; umbrellas in the door don’t count, because Skoda has one.

I recently had the opportunity to drive the heavily revised new Ford Focus at an official event. The Titanium model I drove literally came with everything you could ever want or/and need, from a heated steering wheel to active safety gadgets. It was supremely quiet inside too, very refined and pleasant. It didn’t “ooze quality,” because it was not meant to feel overtly premium, but you’d really have to have your head up your ass to realistically need more car than that in today’s modern traffic conditions – were they to make a Vignale model based on it, then the Audi A3/Mercedes A-Class/future fwd BMW 1-Series could get a good run for their money…

Moreover, the Focus was pretty sexy to look at too (in certain color/trim/rim combinations) and this brings another point into focus to strengthen the argument. Back in the day, another thing you were charged extra for was distinctive design, a car that would set you apart from the supposed sea of dull-colored boxes filled with poor people.  Now, design is an integral part of any kind of car’s arsenal of qualities, and you don’t have to think too hard to come up with a new non-premium car that is comparable in size/style but looks better than its actually premium counterpart.

Just picture any new Mazda model, or a new Volvo, or even Kia/Hyundai and you’re off to a good start…

There is hope, though. I look at Cadillac and see an automaker trying to adapt to market needs it hadn’t met since the days cars handling like boats was acceptable. Not only are their latest models good and distinctive to look at (and recognizable as Cadillacs), but they apparently come with pretty good engineering too. The CTS, par example, thoroughly impressed in the CR survey mentioned above – it was also previously rated as a very good drive by a whole slew of reviewers; we’re eager to see what their flagship offering will be like – it may look like this.

So, after the wall of text above we ask you: is it really worth paying extra for a premium brand (any one) just so you feel better about yourself, yet you don’t care about being shortchanged and mislead by marketing?

I personally say it isn’t, with the exception of special cars where the passion of those who worked on it exceeded the prospected financial gains and necessary planned obsolescence that has for so long been the norm. The matter presented here is quite complex and would require much more page space to fully detail and this piece does in no way intend to serve as any kind of conclusion – it’s meant to stir you up sufficiently to leave your opinion in the comments box below.

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