Luxury SUVs: A New Class

Don't you just wish there'd be a really expensive car sitting out in your driveway with a bow this holiday season? Well, there's some really expensive and luxurious SUVs available right now. Petrina Gentile, an automotive journalist at the Globe and Mail, has toured all around the world, truly. And she's here to tell us about some of them. It is nice to have you here in Toronto, because I know you've been everywhere. It's nice to be here, that's for sure. So what-- a luxury SUV? I mean, we heard little bits about it, but it's a thing. It is. It is a growing segment. Actually, last year sales went up 15% globally, led by the Chinese market, where sales for those ultra-luxury vehicles have gone up more than 54%. Wow. So there's a huge market for it, and you're going to see all kinds of manufacturers, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, they're all getting into the SUV game. They're getting in, and some were already in? Yes. And you've seen them? Yes. You've got pictures? Yes. You're going to show us? OK, so we're going to run through the list here. Bentley-- what does Bentley have? They have the Bentayga. So this is actually the vehicle that sort of started this ultra-luxury SUV craze. And it starts around $266,000. The top trim tops out at around $350,000, ultra-luxurious. You have the back seat that has crystal flutes in a refrigerator, and china. Do you get to pick the china? Do you get to pick the crystal? Gosh, no, you don't. You have a solid gold clock in there. It's unbelievable. And then it has a really powerful engine, and actually a twin turbo W12 with 600 horsepower. It is one of the fastest SUVs on the road today. Really? Mm-mm. Now did you drive this one, any chance, or have you-- This one, I haven't, no, but I've been to the factory in Crewe, England, and it is really spectacular. Everything is hand built and hand made. The steering wheel is stitched by hand. Only a couple people know how to do that. And even the burr walnut wood-- it's perfectly matched. Like, you've don't find in any oddities in it. It's perfectly matched along the dashboard. The attention to detail is impeccable. And you would expect that if you're dropping $300,000. Exactly, yes. OK, Mercedes, what do they have? They have the AMG GLC 63. Now when you see the AMG moniker, that means that it is a high performance AMG engine that comes from a special factory in Germany. And it's really cool, because the factory actually has a policy-- it's one man, one engine. So one person-- and there are females, there's actually four out of the 200 that work there-- actually builds your engine from start to finish. Really? Yeah, and it takes about 3 and 1/2 hours to do so. And it's really quite cool, because when they're done, they actually sign the engine plaque. So you can pop the hood, you can see who actually built your engine. Wow! And then you can tour the factory. When I drove this vehicle in Stuttgart, it was really quite cool, because I could see who built my twin turbo V8 engine, it was Dominic Stark. And I can actually see his picture on the factory floor, and I could search for him. And they apparently have huge followings as well, like on social media. So there's a real connection between man and machine, so to speak. So did you get a Stark engine, or did you get the other one? No, that-- yeah, I looked for him, and I tried to find him on the floor. And I'm like, I can't see him on the floor. But it's really cool to see that person, that specific person sign your engine off. And there's a pride that goes with it. Oh, of course there is. That's fantastic. Alfa Romeo, this one, I actually-- oh, sorry, did you talk about the price on the Mercedes? We don't know yet. Oh, we don't know yet. That will come out next year. OK, OK. Alfa Romeo-- this one looks to be one of the most affordable. Yes, if you could call it that. So this is a Stelvio, and this is Alfa Romeo's first SUV. It starts at around $52,000 for the base model. The model you want is the Quadrifoglio though. It's not available yet, and we don't know the prices yet. But it is also a powerhouse, another twin turbo V6, 505 horsepower, really powerful. And I was very lucky, because I drove this vehicle on the Stelvio pass, which is the highest paved mountain road in Italy. And it has 48 hairpin turns over 20 kilometers. Jeremy Clarkson called this particular road the best driving road in the world back in 2008 when he hosted Top Gear. And it really is quite something, and to drive that vehicle, especially an SUV, on these roads, where you can barely get one vehicle, let alone two, was really quite impressive. Yeah, and you're here. Yes! But that Quadrifoglio will probably cost closer $100,000 when it goes on sale. OK, I've only got 10 seconds-- Maserati? Maserati-- this is the Levante, and this is their first SUV. Starts around $90,000. And very cool with the engine-- the engine actually rolls off the line with Ferrari engines in Maranello, Italy. So it's kind of cool, you can get, for $90,000, a Ferrari engine. That's fantastic. Petrina, always awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you.