Contrary to Mr. Farley's
Contrary to Mr. Farley's observations, it appears there has been no significant change in what the affluent believe should be the price of a luxury car as a result of the economic challenges of the past few years.
In an attempt to define "luxury" for a car in an objective and quantifiable way, the American Affluence Research Center asked the weathiest 10% of U.S. households to state the most they could imagine spending for a new car. In the September 2009 survey, the median (not average) price cited by all of the survey respondents was $40,000.
The highest income group (average income of $439,000) in the survey sample cited a median value of $50,000 for a new car. The highest net worth group (average net worth of $10.8 million) cited a median value of $60,000 for a new car.