A Preliminary Study of Trends in Perceived Quality Design Attributes in the Automotive Luxury Market Segment

Paper in proceeding, 2016

The premium vehicle segment has focused on excellent manufacturing quality, while in contrast the luxury segment has focused on emotional and personalized appeal. We perform qualitative analysis of interviews with Italian, Swedish, and American premium and luxury vehicle manufacturers. Results indicate customers of luxury vehicles now consider quality attributes previously considered only by customers of the premium segment. We quantitatively model this design communication process, and show luxury vehicle manufacturers that neglect benchmarking against the premium segment risk low perceived quality.