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Weekly Recap: Automakers rethink the definition of luxury

Variety is the spice of life, but it's becoming a prerequisite for luxury carmakers in the ultra-competitive US market. The Detroit Auto Show was strong evidence of this reality. It's not enough to offer attractive and well-appointed cars and SUVs anymore. Luxury brands that want to be competitive need to invest in everything from high-powered supercars to clever hybrids. To be relevant, you need to be green and mean – and everything in between. As General Motors product chief Mark Reuss said after the reveal of the 640-horsepower Cadillac CTS-V: "We are not leaving anything on the table." He was speaking for Cadillac, but he might as well have been speaking for the luxury car market. The CTS-V debuted in Detroit about an hour after Lexus surprised showgoers with the reveal of the RC F GT3 race car and then announced ambitious plans to return to competitive racing. That almost overshadowed the fact Lexus had just revealed another potent addition to its growing F line, the 467-hp GS F. View 20 Photos But for luxury brands, it's not just about maximum horsepower for well-heeled enthusiasts or decadent amenities for the Grey Poupon set. Strong competition from all corners has forced automakers to refine and expand their lineups in ways unforeseen even a few years ago. Case in point: Mercedes-Benz finally has an answer to the BMW X6, rolling out the GLE coupe in Detroit. The X6, which blends coupe-like styling cues with some of the functionality of an SUV, debuted in 2008. Back then it was a punchline, but seven years and more than 260,000 sales later, the X6's success has compelled Benz to respond. Mercedes – one of the strongest proponents of diesel technology – also debuted the C350 plug-in hybrid sedan, which promises a range of 20 miles on electricity, though fuel economy figures were not announced. The car pairs Mercedes' well-received 208-hp turbocharged four-cylinder with an electric motor for total output of 275 hp and 443 pound-feet of torque. Meanwhile, Infiniti will add the Q30 hatchback to its lineup by the end of the year, new president Roland Kruger reiterated in Detroit. It's expected to be joined by a crossover variant, and the additions will help strengthen Infiniti in the United States and abroad. "While we're expanding our product line, we're also expanding our market reach," he said. That's something echoed by Jaguar executives, who are preparing to launch the brand's first crossover, the F-Pace, in 2016.

Audi, Jag, Kia and Tesla top Strategic Vision 2014 Total Quality Index

A couple weeks ago, J.D. Power released its latest Initial Quality Study, which gave high marks to Porsche, Hyundai and General Motors, with the latter earning more individual IQS awards than any other manufacturer. Now, it's Strategic Vision's turn, and it's doling out its praise not to Porsche, but to Tesla, which wasn't even included in the JD Power IQS.
The Model S was named the best vehicle overall in total quality, while Porsche's corporate brother and endurance-racing rival, Audi, was named the best premium brand, alongside Jaguar. Strategic Vision cited the Q5 and the ancient Q7 for individual segment awards, as well as the A5, which was a mere point off the top of its segment. SV also handed out compliments for the Audi's interior work. The win for the German brand is a nice improvement over its IQS score, with which it landed above the industry average, but solidly mid-pack.
Jaguar was without a segment winner, although SV did say that the Indian-owned English brand had a number of vehicles very near the top of their segments. This is the second significant win for Jag in two weeks, after it finished second overall on the JD Power IQS a few weeks ago.

Jaguar XF Sportbrake teased in Wimbledon promotion

Until this moment, we'd only seen spy photos of the Jaguar XF Sportbrake. Now we get our first official look at the long-roof Jaguar with the above teaser photo. Pleasantly, this isn't an image of the car in shadows, but rather in full light. It happens to be a bird's-eye-view image, so there isn't much we can tell about the car aside from confirming it is indeed a wagon. That's not to say we can't tell anything, though. Close examination of the tail reveals that Jaguar has opted for more conventional, body-colored D-pillars. This is a contrast to the previous XF Sportbrake that featured piano black D-pillar panels that were reminiscent of the ones on the XJ flagship sedan. Another interesting detail is that glass roof. There don't appear to be any seams along it, indicating that this is one massive, fixed panel. Odds are an opening variant is available, but that version probably won't have the same unbroken view of the sky. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. We also get one other teaser of the XF Sportbrake via a video in which Ian Callum talks about lines with the head groundskeeper of Wimbledon. Apparently Jaguar is providing cars for this year's tennis tournament, so some kind of marketing tie-in was inevitable. The video is pretty much what you would expect, with Callum saying flowery things about different kinds of lines and the lines on Jaguars. But at the very end, a silhouette of the XF Sportbrake is shown on the Wimbledon center court. It doesn't show much, but it is something. You can check it out for yourself at the end of the video above. In addition to these teasers, Jaguar announced that the car will be available later this year. No regions were announced, but don't hold your breath for the US market. The previous version was never offered here, and now Jaguar has the American-friendly F-Pace crossover to satiate Jaguar buyers needing more cargo space. So we don't see much of a case for bringing it here. That being said, we would certainly be happy if it came to the States. Related Video: