• Here are our Auto123 Top Picks for 2024, in the luxury car categories.
Each year, Auto123 selects its favourite vehicles in a host of distinct categories. As the categories evolve, so does the way we honour the industry's best models.
This year, we're adopting a new and improved formula. Rather than picking just one winner, we’re presenting you with what the auto journalists making up our jury have identified as the top three vehicles in each segment.
Among the cars belonging to luxury manufacturers, there are three categories: subcompact/compact cars, mid-size sedans and full-size sedans.
The battles were all close, but for each group, three models managed to prevail over their rivals.
The best luxury compact cars
For a long time, the luxury compact sedan segment was dominated by the BMW 3 Series. This model has always been THE benchmark. It is therefore no surprise that we find him in our top three.
The flagship model of the German brand remains very pleasant to drive, offering an almost perfect balance between comfort and sportiness. Of course, you can always go for an M model for the ultimate performance, but we're talking about another category here. Hybridity is also there with a rechargeable model. In short, there is a 3 Series for everyone.
The second model that stood out was the Acura TLX. If we are not always kind to this manufacturer who seems to be searching for himself, with the TLX, he has found himself. This sedan is simply extraordinary in every way. Its driving, its comfort, its handling, its style and its interior, all of which make it a very interesting model. The Type S variant, which offers more power, is rather irresistible.
And our third model in this category, the Genesis G70, has nothing to envy of its rivals. It also offers top-notch comfort, impeccable build quality and inspiring driving. Better still, a new 2.5L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine offers more bite to the base version. Sadly, the news came recently of the automaker's plan to retire the model as it currently exists. If it is to have a future, it may be electric. Time will tell.
The best luxury midsize cars
The mid-size sedan segment is also populated with very interesting models coveted by buyers looking for a luxury car offering more prestige.
A bit like the 3 Series, the BMW 5 Series has long been cited as THE benchmark in this category. In the mid-90s and 2000s, we were talking about the best vehicle on the market, all categories combined.
This year, it’s still just as compelling, its excellence in terms of comfort, handling, power making for an impressive overall package. But it now has far more company in its segment, with notably the Cadillac CT5 and Genesis G80 making very good cases for themselves. And they complete our trio of Top Picks.
The Cadillac CT5 is an underappreciated model at large, because it offers everything buyers in this category are looking for. Comfort, technology, performance - everything is worthy of the logo on the front. And that’s without counting the CT5-V Blackwing version, itself a Top Pick in our category of sports cars with engines with more than 5-cylinders.
The Genesis G80 is more discreet than our two other picks. But it makes a strong case just the same, as a car offering a perfect balance between smoothness, luxury, power, reliability and bang-for-buck. This is definitely a model to discover.
The best luxury full-size cars
Luxury manufacturers see it as essential to offer a full-size sedan. An executive car ready to satisfy the most demanding executives. More than any other segment, this one defines the brand’s image, and the vehicles in it are the first adopters of each brand’s latest innovations and technologies.
No wonder segment is populated by some really impressive marvels. The three that came out on top in the eyes of our jurors? The BMW 7 Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Porsche Panamera.
Three German cars, if you hadn't noticed.
BMW’s 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz’ S-Class follow similar formulas. Technology abounds, starting with the screens that are forever offering more and then more again. You have a large screen that can be deployed in the back of the BMW for an extraordinary cinema experience. You Mercedes-Benz’ Hyperscreen, which transforms the dashboard into a huge screen serving as a data centre for driving, a multimedia interface and a portal to loads of other content.
Each of these models offers a divine level of comfort, power to spare and rear seats where you simply want to settle in and let yourself be driven.
The Porsche Panamera delivers these elements as well, but perhaps in a less ostentatious way. Here, it's driving that takes precedence; this car is for the company president who likes to drive rather than be driven. And because it’s a Porsche, there are variants to spare, offering something very reasonable with hybridity, or even excess with levels of power and performance that are insane.