The F-segment is the 6th category and largest of the European segments for passenger cars, and always belongs to " luxury cars". The equivalent categories are full-size luxury sedan (or "large luxury sedan") in the United States, luxury saloon (or "luxury limousine") in the United Kingdom, and Oberklasse in Germany. Extended-wheelbase

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

s and armored sedans are also considered as F-segment. F-segment is a niche of the European market (approximately 0.2–0.3% in the 2010s) and the range is limited to only a few models.

Characteristics

Most F-segment cars use a sedan body style; however, some have been produced as wagons/estates or have a

hatchback A hatchback is a car body style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row sea ...

rear door. Extended wheelbase variants of these cars are common, as many of the luxury features are placed for the rear-seat occupants. In some markets (depending on the manufacturer), short wheelbase models are excluded completely, and only long wheelbase variants are sold. , the average F-segment car has a length exceeding . Ultra-luxury cars are also included in F-segment.

Current models

In 2020, the highest selling F-segment cars in Europe were the BMW 8 Series, BMW 7 Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Jaguar XJ, Porsche Panamera and Audi A8 / S8. 1000–10,000 sales (best-selling) File:BMW i7 xDrive60 1X7A6835.jpg,

BMW 7 Series The BMW 7 Series is a full-size luxury car, luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by the German automaker BMW since 1977. It is the successor to the BMW E3 "New Six" sedan and is now in its seventh generation. The 7 Series is BMW's flagship car ...

7th generation (2022–present) File:Mercedes-Benz W223 IAA 2021 1X7A0206.jpg, Mercedes-Benz S-Class
7th generation (2020–present) File:Porsche 972 IMG 9526.jpg,

Porsche Panamera The Porsche Panamera is a Mid-size car, mid to full-sized luxury car (E-segment or F-segment for LWB in Europe) manufactured and marketed by Germany, German automobile manufacturer Porsche. It currently spans across three generations, using a Fr ...

3rd generation (2024–present) File:2018 Audi A8 50 TDi Quattro Automatic 3.0 Front.jpg, Audi A8
4th generation (2018–present) Fewer than 1000 sales File:Lexus LS 500h (GVF50) IMG 5829.jpg,

Lexus LS The is a series of full-size luxury sedans that have served as the flagship model of Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, since 1989. For the first four generations, all LS models featured V8 engines and were predominantly rear-wheel-drive ...

5th generation (2017–present) File:2018 Maserati Quattroporte V6 Automatic 3.0 Front.jpg, Maserati Quattroporte
6th generation (2013–2023) File:Genesis G90 RS4 3.5T AWD Valencia Gold (14) (cropped).jpg, Genesis G90
2nd generation (2021–present) Fewer than 1000 sales (ultra-luxury models) File:Bentley Flying Spur Mulliner (2024) DSC 6973.jpg, Bentley Flying Spur (2005)
4th generation (2024–present) File:2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge in Arctic White, front left.jpg, Rolls-Royce Ghost
2nd generation (2020–present) File:2019 Rolls-Royce Phantom V12 Automatic 6.75.jpg, Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII
8th generation (2017–present)

Sales figures in Europe

Market share in Europe

2019 - Sales of limousines in Europe were down 6% in 2019 to just over 41,000 sales which makes this the second consecutive year of decline for the segment. 2020 - European sales of limousines and upper class vehicles were down 29% in 2020, to just over 29,000 deliveries. This lowers their share to 0.2% of the total European car market, down from 0.3% the year before.

Asia

In China, Hongqi CA72 was launched in 1958, making it the oldest Chinese F-segment car. The first F-segment car from an Asian manufacturer for an outside market was the 1989 Lexus LS400. Before the debut of luxury orientated Japanese manufacturers such as

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...

or Infiniti, most flagship models were limited for Japan only. Examples included the

Toyota Century The is a lineup of full-size luxury cars and limousines produced mainly for the Japanese market, serving as Toyota's Flagship#Automotive, flagship car within Japan; globally the unrelated Lexus LS series is Toyota's flagship luxury model. Pro ...

and

Nissan President The is a Japanese luxury car, luxury Sedan (automobile), sedan that was manufactured and marketed by Nissan from 1965 until 2010 as the flagship of Nissan's range, available only at its ''Nissan Motor Company#Japan, Nissan Store'' dealerships th ...

. In South Korea, early F-segment cars were the result of partnerships with long-established manufacturers, for example the 1999 Hyundai Equus (based on the Mitsubishi Proudia/Dignity). More recent F-segment cars from South Korea include the Genesis G90.

Europe

The lineage of Mercedes-Benz's current F-segment car begins with the 1951 Mercedes-Benz W187. The W187 was replaced by the Mercedes-Benz W180 (nicknamed "Ponton") in 1954, which was replaced by the Mercedes-Benz W111 in 1959, which was replaced by the Mercedes-Benz W108 in 1965. The W108 was replaced by the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in 1972, which has been produced for six generations and remains in production today. Jaguar's first F-segment car was the 1951 Jaguar Mark VII. The Mark VII was replaced by the 1956 Jaguar Mark VIII, then the 1959 Jaguar Mark IX and the 1961 Jaguar Mark X, which was renamed the "Jaguar 420G" in 1966. The 420G was replaced by the Jaguar XJ in 1968, which has been produced for four generations and has just ceased production in 2020. The 1952–1963 BMW 501/502 sedans are predecessors to BMW's current line of F-segment cars. The successor to the 501/502 was the BMW New Six (also known as E3), introduced in 1977. The E3 was replaced by the

in 1978, which has been produced for six generations and remains in production today. The Maserati Quattroporte was released in 1963 and is currently in its sixth generation. The first F-segment car from Audi was the 1988 Audi V8. The Audi V8 was replaced by the Audi A8 in 1994, which has been produced for four generations and remains in production today.

United States

F-segment cars are known as "full-size luxury cars" in the United States, and form part of the full-size car category (along with non-luxury large cars and the smaller E-segment cars).

References

{{Automobile configuration Euro car segments Luxury vehicles