Most Popular Options In Luxury Vehicles

Look at the standard features on a luxury vehicle and you will probably conclude that there is little room, or need, for options. Yet even these well-equipped models can be enhanced with some extra-cost equipment.

To find out what luxury car buyers want, ForbesAutos.com contacted the manufacturers of six top-of-the-line premium luxury vehicles and ranked the vehicles according to their first-quarter 2005 sales figures. Infiniti is not included because its top-of-the-line Q45 sold less than 500 units during the first quarter of 2005.

The following sales figures were compiled by Automotive News.

Top-Selling 2005 Model Year Luxury Vehicles	Units Sold
Lincoln Navigator	7,258
Cadillac STS	6,871
Lexus LS 430	6,682
Mercedes-Benz S-Class	3,476
BMW 7-Series	3,426
Jaguar XJ	2,333
Combined Sales	30,046

To determine the figures for the most in-demand options, the manufacturers we spoke to provided us with percentages, also known as "take rates," which we then applied to published sales figures for each make and model to determine which options are hot. Some automakers would not go on record with the figures for fear of giving leverage to their competitors. The lists of options we include were calculated from those who were willing to talk with us.

Even without any options, these vehicles come lavishly equipped. All feature a full range of power assists, air conditioning, automatic transmission and leather upholstery. As a result, we did not count any of those items on our list.

If an item was standard on some makes but optional on others, we only counted the number of people who actually paid extra for the item. Under this approach, sunroofs were only counted as optional extras when they ended up on the Lincoln or Cadillac. They are standard equipment on all of the other vehicles in our comparison. Nonetheless, 10,074 Cadillac and Lincoln buyers selected this feature, so it still made the top 10 list of extras luxuries buyers are eager to purchase.

Here are the 10 most popular factory-installed options on these luxury vehicles. Where hard data from manufacturers were not available, we relied on informed estimates from the people who sell these cars on a day-to-day basis. Click on an option name for more detailed information.

1. Heated, Cooled or Ventilated Seats
2. Sunroof
3. All-Wheel Drive
4. Premium Sound
5. Navigation System
6. Obstacle Detection
7. Upgraded Wheels
8. Rear-Seat DVD Players
9. High-Intensity Discharge (HID) Headlights
10. Adaptive Cruise Control

Next: 1. Heated, Cooled or Ventilated Seats