japanes luxury car

What do wealthy Japanese consider as the world's best luxury cars?

Hint: It's not highly regarded Japanese-produced Acuras, Infinitis or even Lexuses.

It's Mercedes-Benz, followed by Porsche and finally Lexus. Seems odd that German luxury cars would hold sway in a land where the domestically produced choices are known to offer so much in reliability and exacting quality. But it's not a surprise to Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, which conducted the online survey that looked at attitudes toward 20 car brands among Japanese households with annual income more than $525,000.

"The Japanese, from what we know, revere European brands," Pedraza says. The love Toyota, too, but see it as an everyday mainstream brand, just as it is here in the U.S., and know that Lexus is its upscale brand. As such, it doesn't receive as much respect as the Germans in the survey. "They know too much," Pedraza says. "Even in the U.S., Toyota has ... the best quality, the best service, but not the most cache."

As for Porsche. Well, it's a Porsche. It's unlike anything produced in Japan, right up from the blissful but ever-present engine noise.

Their love of foreign brands isn't limited to cars. In fact, no other Japanese products made the list of the top three in any category when it came to men's and women's apparel, shoes and accessories. Instead, the list was dominated by names like Hermes, Chanel and Giorgio Armani.

Photo of Mercedes SL600 covered in crystal on display at the Sogo department store in Osaka, Japan