Sedans (Four-Doors)

Even the lowest-rung luxury or sport sedan today is faster, quieter and more sophisticated than the top models from just 10 years ago. Manufacturers continue to joust for an advantage, which is spurring an emphasis on bold and creative design, myriad tech innovations and better performance.

Today’s sedans have more versatile interiors and bolder, more-memorable exteriors. While bluebloods like BMW and Mercedes-Benz set the pace for the luxury sedan segment decades ago with superbly balanced rear-wheel-drive platforms — a layout that persists and is preferred by driving enthusiasts to this day — front- and all-wheel-drive systems are gaining in popularity. The reasons are various and include, most notably, cost, packaging efficiency and safety. All-wheel drive in particular seems to be flourishing by virtue of its perceived safety advantage — emphasis on perceived (two-wheel drive cars are plenty safe, even on slick roads).

Whether it's a quasi-race-ready Audi RS 4 compact sport sedan or a svelte, new-age gas/electric hybrid Lexus GS 450h, the luxury sedan segment is boiling over with 12 outstanding all-new models.

New or redesigned luxury sedans hail from Germany, Japan and Sweden. Two top-of-the-line juggernauts known for setting trends — the full-size Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Lexus LS — have been completely redone and bring an arsenal of innovation and loftier levels of luxury. The S-Class offers a newfangled in-dash night vision system, for instance, and the LS’ climate-control system actually measures occupants’ surface body temperatures.