Rapide from Aston Martin

We have heard a lot about the car and it is time for the Rapide from Aston Martin to say hello to the world. It will be a head turner when the crowd sees its lines. It will be exciting to see how the doors on swan-wing configuration fit in the design. The 470 horsepower engine will be stunner.

5-Series GT of BMW

The Gran Turismo 5 Series from BMW promises a ride with bigger room for its occupants aside from the sexy rounded roofline it has. It will be running on a V8 with twin-turbo engine capable of giving out 400 horsepower. The powertrain is combined with an 8-speed automatic transmission. The car blazes from 0 to 60 in 5.4 seconds going for a top speed of 150 mph with a sport variant.

The Ghost by Rolls-Royce

Rolls Royce claims that the Ghost can meet head on any Bentley Continental anytime. It will carry the looks of the concept car 200EX that you can see on the Rolls-Royce website. Those who can afford it has an option for a V8 or a V12 engine. There is also an option to go for a coupe or a convertible ride.

2011 Mulsanne from Bentley

The new Mulsanne was first unveiled at Pebble Beach. It gets a new design, a new engine, and a sticker price of around $300,000. That will be a hefty price to pay without the other perks of luxury you might ask for the interiors like the drink carts, quilted seats, and aluminum dash. The first unit after the Pebble’s sold for $550K.

Saab 9-5

With GM selling Saab to Koenigsegg, the future is quite uncertain. But the company confirms that a 2010 Saab 9-5 will show up in Frankfurt with a four-door body style or a wagon as your choices.

The dip in the sales graph prompts luxury car makers to offer incentives in order to lure consumers who are looking into buying more affordable brands and vehicles like SUVs and pickups. The luxury car brands suffered due to the recession which pushed the economy to the edge forcing consumers to cut back on their spending.

BMW invites consumers to take advantage of the interest rates that they offer for their new range of cars which goes for as low as 1.9%. They are also focusing on pushing for their pre-owned cars program. BMW is also concentrating on being more green as they capitalize on their diesel models and their plan to introduce the X6 Hybrid and the 7-Series in the United States.

Bentley gives consumers to own a Continental GT with a sticker of $179,000 on a 0.9% interest rate. Porsche is also creating a buzz with their cash back programs. On an average purchase, the buyer can save as much as $4412, a 657% increase from 2008, for buying a new car from Porsche.

Mercedes-Benz offers a special rate on the leasing program and interest rates ranging from 1.9% to 2.9% for units like the CLS Class 4-door coupe, CLK-Class, and the sedan from the C-Class lineup. Benz also recently launched the S400 hybrid in the U.S. to enter the competition on the green market.

The luxury car brands hope to improve their figures by 2010. On the other side of the picture, now is the great chance for consumers to buy their new rides.

American and Japanese car manufacturers don’t have the positioning and advantage that the European brands have. The vehicles they produce are mainstream and they do not have significant diesel programs in Europe or other parts of the globe.

The European car makers are grabbing the opportunity to dominate the market as diesel prices drop and as clamor for more fuel efficient engines increase. They are finding the greener solution in diesel which has more energy stored compared to gasoline. Diesel technology can still compete with the emerging hybrid vehicles.

Consumers can save on average about $3000 to $8000 per car compared to getting hybrid systems. Diesel powertrains also prove to be torquey and perform in real driving conditions. The hybrid, on the other hand, has the street image of being the greener of the choices and is more popular nowadays.

The European luxury car makers will definitely push forward with their plans of selling more units in the United States as Japanese and American car makers struggle to bring back their diesel solutions to North America.

Lexus might have something in its fleet to challenge the European marques. The 2010 HS 250h is being marketed as a luxury sedan. It also has the RX hybrid in the SUV segment. Experts are pretty sure though that the 355d of BMW and Bluetec diesel GL-Class and ML-Class (Mercedes), and the Audi 7 will give a good fight.

Aaaah Germany, they still do great things with cars, don’t they?

How can you not like this?

Via Mini Car Blog.