North American manufacturers

From 1946 to the late 1990s, Cadillac was the highest selling brand of luxury cars in the U.S. and Lincoln was the second-highest.[86] The most successful and long-running model names during this era were the Cadillac Deville and Lincoln Continental. The personal luxury car is an America-specific category of popularly-priced cars made from the 1950s by the four domestic manufacturers (GM, Ford, Chrysler, and AMC) that reached peak popularity in the 1970s. The cars were stylized, mass produced two-door coupés or convertibles, relying on standard components.[87] These distinctively styled cars were targeting the needs of individual customers, not an entire family.[88] The longest running model lines were the 1958-1997 Ford Thunderbird and the 1967-2002 Cadillac Eldorado.

In 1990, American luxury brands dominated with Cadillac selling over a quarter million cars and Lincoln had its best year ever at 231,660 units.[89] However, the market was changing with an ever greater acceptance of smaller, more efficient imported luxury brands while at the same time the domestic manufacturers were downsizing their models with product decisions that backfired on quality and brand respect