Luxury brands generally set the benchmark for most trends — except, when it comes to the green and digital space. Several years ago, one would be hard pressed to find an informative, well-designed luxury car website or a car that ran on more than 20 mpg among the world’s high-end automakers, for that matter.News that Rolls-Royce will make a one-off electric Phantom called the 102EX broke at midnight on Sunday in the UK, as the luxury automaker launched the website, ElectricLuxury, devoted to exploring the concept of producing an electric car for it’s elite niche customer base based on the 102EX. This plan marks a distinct shift for the automaker — representing a definitive move toward a more green perception, but also a deeper imprint in the digital realm, with the creation of an internal website to host discussions that’s being pushed to the public.
Rolls-Royce follows the efforts of it’s parent company BMW which has launched the Megacity sub brand for its electric exploratory missions. Mercedes-Benz has the A-Class E Cell, sold only in Europe, and the B-Class F-CELL, but plans to debut the SLS-AMG E Cell in a battery electric version by 2013. It’s clear — luxury brands are positioning to be on the edge of green technology. However, the electric and battery-powered car is still cautious territory as the questions looms — do consumers who spend more than $300,000 on a car care about fuel economy enough to invest in such a product? Companies like Tesla and Fisker have teased this line with sleek sports car press, but it still remains to be seen if the old vanguard of luxury will delve into a green product line. The answer these days is shifting toward a tentative yes, as manufacturers dip their toe in the greener waters, and rely on the Internet as the wave pool for gauging results.The shift toward integrative informative websites with consumer-ready content is now commonplace, as luxury automakers have learned to harness exclusive eyeballs. Land Rover and Jaguar have launched sites that function as blogs, that customer and journalists alike can access for up-to-date company info, complete with Twitter feeds, original videos, and hyperlinks to websites followed by the company. These sites function as reference material for journalists, but also bleed over to the curious customer base. Audi has also broaches this territory with performance based sites.The new definition of luxury now includes integration, presentation and forward-thinking perception — the sleekness of well-thought out clean technology is an essential part of the package.It’s telling that global and technological events of the past several years have transformed the marketplace. In a curious shift, the manufacturers of scrappier city cars have led the way for an industry wide makeover. Once, the Internet space for car companies was reserved for younger buyers who were more comfortable with technology and flashy digital campaigns, and partial to affordable fuel efficient cars, while owners of luxury cars carried on in private forums.It seems that we’ve come circle to the idea that emerged at the beginning of the industrial era — luxury is not only about comfort, but about progress. Business is moving faster than ever before, even among the classics.
What’s happening is that high-end automakers are spending more resources on the digital realm, where they can control the message, educate potential buyers and create a conversation among customers. Small internet marketing companies and digital consultancies are springing up to help organizations and agencies tailor those efforts. It’s a new kind of luxury.
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