by Top 10 Best Luxury Cars in 2022. Luxury cars aren’t just defined by their cosseting ride, extensive levels of technology and refinement, but also the level of prestige they bring. Which one has the most class to top our best 10 lists?
1. Range Rove
This is number 1 in the top 10 best luxury cars in 2022. The latest, fifth-generation Range Rover continues where its imperious predecessor left off: at the top of the class. At a glance, the latest version doesn’t look much different to its stately forebear, but it’s packed with fresh design details that mean it’s much more modern but still unmistakably a Range Rover. It also retains the model’s unique blend of talents that sees it blend luxury, comfort and exclusivity with unrivalled usability and, of course, unmatched off-road ability.
2. Mercedes-Benz S-Class
When Mercedes-Benz sets out to make a new S-Class, the brief is to make the best car in the world – simple as that. It has done on every single occasion that this defining ‘big Benz’ has been redesigned over the decades; and the last time that happened, in 2020, in a more challenging and fast-changing luxury car market than the car has ever faced, Stuttgart very likely did just the same. This is number 2 in the top 10 best luxury cars in 2022.
This time, however, Mercedes didn’t quite hit its target right in the bullseye. What could be considered the 10th-generation S-Class risked much in a bid to level up with the digital technology of a Tesla, but to keep its recognizable high-quality feel, its opulent luxury and cabin quality, and its uncompromising comfort and refinement.
3. Audi E-Tron
We’re now entering reasonably well-established times for the premium electric car. There have been fast ones, very fast ones, big ones, small ones, expensive ones and cheap ones, and some that even attempt a bit of four-wheel-drive versatility. This is number 3 in the top 10 best luxury cars in 2022.
But never has an electric car come along and done onboard luxury better than Audi’s first stab at the zero-emissions template: the E-Tron. This car combines four-wheel drive and a commanding outright performance level with SUV-typical space, convenience and usability, and also with Audi-brand desirability. But what really makes it stand out is how superbly hushed, comfortable and refined it is. When we road-tested one, our decibel placed its cabin noise level closer, at a 70mph cruise, to that of the Rolls-Royce Phantom than the Tesla Model X.
4. Audi A8
The recently facelifted Audi A8 features some of the most advanced chassis, powertrain and in-car technology in the luxury class – including, when it’s finally switched on, what promises to be the greatest capability for autonomous driving of any production car in the world. The car represents Audi doing classic Vorsprung Durch Technik in a properly committed way.
There’s a choice of turbocharged engines – a 282bhp diesel or 335bhp petrol – with four-wheel-drive as standard and a 48V electrical system that gives it mild-hybrid status. Higher up the model range, you will find the tax-saving six-cylinder petrol 60 TFSIe, whose refinement and effortless responsiveness really boost the appeal of the car’s driving experience – as well as the range-topping V8-powered S8 executive express.
5. Mercedes CLS
Whether Mercedes invented the modern hybrid vehicle Bodystyle that, for a while, was amusingly dubbed the ‘coupon’ (a four-door saloon crossbred with a more tapered silhouette and a swooping coupé-like roofline) or whether it was Maserati with the fifth-generation Quattroporte is a matter of contention. Either way, it’s fair to record that the original Mercedes-Benz CLS of 2004 was one of the originators of what still seems a fairly new vehicle type. Also, that vehicle type has become an important part of the modern luxury car landscape and Mercedes has probably done more than any other car maker to popularise it.
6. BMW 7 Series
Ever since its launch in 1977, the BMW 7 Series has been in the shadow of the Mercedes S-Class, but this latest version is BMW’s most committed attempt yet to fully crack the luxury saloon market. The car combines optional adaptive air suspension with pioneering infotainment and convenience features, plus it offers a choice of two-wheelbase lengths and rear or four-wheel-drive.
The interior trim conjures a sense of space, integrity and usability, although the fascia is perhaps a bit too similar to that of lesser BMW saloons and lacking in lavish material flourish. The engines are quiet, powerful and efficient, the range opening up with the familiar six-cylinder diesel, but also taking in the most BIK-tax-friendly plug-in hybrid option in the limo class in the shape of the 745e and culminating with one of only a handful of remaining 12-cylinder limo options in the M760Li, and both are impressive works of engineering. The handling is more poised and precise than rivals’, although the ride isn’t quite as well isolated.
The 7 Series is an unexpectedly appealing driver’s car, then, even if it falls behind its very best rivals in ways more core to the mission and identity of the luxury car. There’s an all-new model on the way at the end of the year, complete with an all-electric option for the first time.
7. BMW X7
Don’t think of the X7 as an enlarged BMW X5, says Munich, but rather a jacked-up 7 Series that has been readied for limited off-roading work. That description doesn’t much account for the fact that the X7 is a seven-seat, two-box passenger car with an extended roofline, of course, but it does tell you about the priorities that BMW’s designers and engineers had when it came to refining and tuning the car.
This SUV comes with a choice of one diesel (the 40d) and two turbo petrol engines (the entry-level 40i and range-topping M50i) in the UK. The M50d version used to offer fully 394bhp and more than 500lb-ft of torque but has since been dropped, while the V8-petrol M50i winds the performance dial all the way out to 523bhp.
On the road, the X7 handles its size and bulk well, feeling surprisingly precise and athletic when cornering. Even the diesel engine is smooth and refined, developing enough torque to move the car along easily, while its ride is comfortable without running out of control. The X7 manages its mass better than big luxury SUV rivals and feels more intuitive to drive.
8. Audi Q8
A great many modern car enthusiasts have taken against the modern luxury car buyer’s preference for the SUV, but when you drive a car like the Audi Q8, it’s easy to appreciate why they’re so liked. This designer takes on a Q7 that has more visual presence and kerbside appeal than its dowdier, boxier relation but the same brilliantly rich, solid-feeling and inviting interior.
It offers generous space for four adults conveyed at a height that makes you feel like you’re lifted above the melee of traffic below; and enough versatility and capability to deal with whatever else your daily routine is likely to throw at you, with plenty left in reserve.
9. Lexus LS
The Lexus LS has always been a niche choice in the UK, but its success elsewhere has guaranteed this latest version a seat at the top saloon table. This is number 9 in top 10 best luxury cars in 2022.
The car has had a major styling overhaul and the interior feels both modern and luxurious in a likably unconventional way. There are four trim levels, the top one coming with plenty of equipment and, spec-depending, also a rare kind of material richness that few cars in the world can match
Dynamically, the LS is less convincing as a luxury item. The 3.5-liter hybrid V6 has to work hard to cope with the car’s 2420kg weight, and while the handling is quite impressive, its noisy and slightly brusque run-flat-shod ride is quite the opposite.
Against the latest S-Class, 7 Series and A8, the LS is an interesting alternative but still not the most credible of rivals.
10. Genesis G80
Genesis, like Lexus three decades ago, is attempting to break into a luxury car market dominated by established European brands. Hyundai’s high-falutin’ spin-off brand has a mountain to climb, but it has already proven a big hit in its native Korea as well as in the US, where badge snobbery isn’t as prevalent as on this side of the pond.
Since its arrival in Europe last year, Genesis has added numerous models (mostly SUVs, of course), but the first to hit showrooms was the G80, a large saloon with the Audi A6 and BMW 5 Series firmly in its sights. Its large exterior dimensions and bold design help it stand out, while the spacious interior’s mix of technology and high quality creates a surprisingly upmarket and sophisticated ambiance.
