Small luxury crossovers aimed at young buyers

LOS ANGELES — It's not just Tiffany that knows the allure of expensive things in small packages. Increasingly, it's luxury automakers.

As affluent Gen Xers and Millennials move up to luxury goods, automakers are beckoning them with compact crossovers that combine practicality, fuel economy, urban maneuverability, high-tech features and a luxury entry price. Some of the latest were unveiled at press days for the Los Angeles Auto Show, now open to the public.

"It's definitely a new area to explore for the luxury automakers," says Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst for Edmunds.com. She thinks they will hold special appeal for fast-rising women who are already "notorious compact crossover buyers" and whose luxury spending is rising.

The hope is that the new premium crossovers — selling for only a bit more than some mainstream-brand models — will get new buyers to consider a luxury vehicle. Jim Farley, Ford's head global marketing and of Lincoln, says that affordable luxury "is a new trend."

Expanding their premium brands is important for automakers. The brands make up only 12% of industry sales, but generate 50% of profits, says Michael Bartsch, new U.S. chief of Nissan's Infiniti brand.

Almost every luxury automaker has a small crossover on sale or in the works. Those unveiled here included:

• Porsche Macan. Porsche already has a winner in its larger Cayenne SUV; now comes the compact Macan, which Porsche says will offer sports car-style performance and up to 400 horsepower. It arrives next spring with a starting price of $49,900.

• Lincoln MKC. The 2015 MKC, a new model, will offer a 2.3-liter turbo for 275 hp and high-tech options that include a system that lets the MKC work ! itself out of tight parallel parking spaces, as well as park itself.

• Infiniti Q30 Concept. The concept, with a production model due for 2015, is a hatchback that walks the line between car and crossover. Why? To have something new. Bartsch says Gen X and Millennial buyers, who will be 80% of car buyers soon, reject traditional luxury.

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• Mercedes-Benz GLA. GLA, due this fall, is the crossover sibling of the about $30,000-to-start new CLA sedan. Knowing that the standard model's 208 hp, 2-liter, four may not satisfy some young buyers, Mercedes showed a performance AMG version boasting 355 hp in Los Angeles.