2008 Infiniti Journey on 2040-cars

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Mercedes leads in US luxury car thefts

Mercedes-Benz makes some fine automobiles. The Silver Arrow'd cars are so good, apparently, that thieves can't help but try to steal them. The German brand is at the top of the charts for luxury car thefts in the US, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, with New York City leading the way. (And those New Yorkers complain about Detroit being bad!)
The C-Class was the most stolen model, with 485 ganked between 2009 and 2012 in NYC alone, while the E-Class and S-Class (which also boasted the worst recovery rate, at 59 percent) both finished in the top ten. Following the C-Class was the BMW 3 Series and Infiniti G. Not surprisingly, each of these were the most common models in their respective lineups. Los Angeles and Miami are also prime hotspots for luxury car thefts, according to the Detroit News report.
While getting your car stolen is pretty awful, there was one inspiring statistic compiled by the NICB - the average recovery rate across the board was 84 percent, with the Cadillac CTS getting recovered 91 percent of the time.

MotorWeek revisits 1990 Infiniti Q45

With the one-two punch of the Lexus LS 400 and Infiniti Q45 in the early '90s, Japanese automakers started taking the fight directly to the established V8-powered German flagships on American roads. Here, we get MotorWeek's take on the latter and probably lesser known of those luxury sedans. While not so impressive today, the Q45's 4.5-liter V8 with 278 horsepower and 292 pound-feet of torque was pretty good by the contemporary standards. The big sedan was also offered with an optional all-wheel steering system that made the model quite a capable handler. The rear end even stepped out a just little during MotorWeek's slalom. Unfortunately, styling is very polarizing with these early sedans. Where the early LS looks planted with its big, chunky lines on the outside, the Infiniti is a bit more delicate. The design just doesn't scream about being a flagship sedan. The interior doesn't help sell the car as the top of luxury, either. While MotorWeek likes some of the amenities inside, there are complains about the reused switches from the Nissan Maxima and the extensive use of plastic, rather than wood. With Infiniti now having its sights on the global premium market and soon entering the compact segment, it's fascinating to see the very roots of the brand.

Toyota, Lexus dominate KBB's Best Resale Value Awards

Toyota and Lexus stormed the 2014 Kelley Blue Book Best Resale Value Awards, winning a combined 18 categories including best brand and best luxury brand. This marks the third year in a row that both automakers have won the Brand and Luxury Brand resale value awards. In all, Toyota won 11 categories and Lexus won seven.
Honda made a good showing, as well, winning two segments (Accord Plug-In Hybrid and Civic Si) and putting one car on the top-10 Best Resale Value list (CR-V). Chevrolet did even better, winning two segments (with the V6 Camaro and the Corvette) and placing three cars on the top-10-overall list (again, the Camaro and Corvette, plus the Silverado 1500).
The other winners came from Jeep, Dodge, Infiniti, Subaru and Audi. To give you a clearer picture of the Toyota and Lexus domination, their 18 mentions represents more than half of the 34 awards (including the top-10-overall list).