Sales of most vehicles, including luxury cars, have seen a hit in recent months as tight credit, rising unemployment, and a housing market crash have conspired to create the worst recession anyone can remember.  Consumers have been hesitant to make major purchases like automobiles.

Even though car sales are down, many people still dream of driving an luxury supercar like a Bentley Continental.  Rental of exotic cars in Dallas has become a popular vacation activity, and local residents are enjoying the opportunity to drive their dream exotic vehicles without the hassle or expense of ownership.

“exotic cars are really a major investment,” says Ron Sturgeon, owner of a Ft. Worth car storage business and exotic car rental company.  “There’s a lot of depreciation and maintenance that comes with owning a car like that, so exotic car rental makes sense for someone who wants to drive a Bentley for a day or while visiting DFW.”

Another great option is joining an exotic car club.  Member of exotic car clubs share an entire garage of exciting exotic cars.  Using a points system, exotic car enthusiasts can share vehicles with other members.

The JD Power and Associates survey indicated that American car buyers are still concerned about gas mileage and the environment.

Sub-Compact Car

1. Smart ForTwo
2. Scion xD
3. Honda Fit

Compact Car

1. Mini Cooper
2. Volkswagen Jetta
3. Mitsubishi Lancer

Compact Sporty Car

1. Volkswagen GTI

Compact Luxury Sport Car

1. Mercedes-Benz SLK-class
2. Nissan Z

Entry Luxury

1. Volkswagen CC
2. Cadillac CTS
3. Audi A4/A5

Mid-size Sport

1. Dodge Challenger

Mid-size Luxury

1. Hyundai Genesis
2. Jaguar XF
3. BMW 5-Series

Large Luxury

1. Mercedes-Benz S-class
2. Lexus LS

Mid-size Car

1. Volkswagen Passat
2. Mazda 6
3. Honda Accord

Large Car:

1. Nissan Maxima
2. Pontiac G8
3. Toyota Avalon

If you’re interested in experiencing luxury first hand, you might like to rent Mercedes in Dallas from DFW Elite Auto Rental.com. They have a beautiful Mercedes S550.

Kate Miller-Wilson is a professional freelance writer living in the Twin Cities. Visit her website or email her for information about her freelance writing services.

The program, called smart car2go, started last October in Ulm, Germany.  The first phase of the program, which is limited to Daimler employees and their family members, has been successfully completed.  Auto blog eMercedesBenz reported on the program.

As part of the program, participants had access to a garage of 50 smart fortwos.  They could use a simple card reader to access a car and drive it for a fee.  Fees were 19 euro cents per minute, 9.9 euros per hour, or 49 euros per day.

Because of the remarkable success of the smart car2go program, the entire program is being extended to include all residents of and visitors to Ulm.  The fleet of smart cars will now number 200.

The next city to be included in the program will be Austin, Texas.  The city was chosen because of its size.  The program will be rolled out much in the way the Ulm smart car2go program worked.  First, a 50-car fleet will be available, and by this autumn, residents will see 200 smart fortwos in the program.

“Car sharing is the next big thing in terms of eco-friendly and economical automotive options,” says Tom Warren, general manager of a Dallas exotic car rental business.  “People are discovering that they don’t always need to own a vehicle.”

The trend away from ownership may be especially evident when it comes to exotic cars.  The exotic vehicle market has taken a very hard hit as part of the economic downturn, and new vehicles are depreciating as much as 40 percent in the first year of ownership.

This means that more people are considering alternatives to exotic car ownership.  Some options include exotic car sharing clubs and exotic car rental.  Regardless of your choice, it’s still possible to drive your dream car without dealing with the hassle and expense of ownership.

Car sharing clubs like the smart car2go program are also great for cities.  Ulm has seen a dramatic reduction in traffic loads on city streets and a great availability of parking.  Whether Austin will see similar benefits is yet to be determined, but if the popularity of the program in Ulm is any indication, residents will welcome the chance to share a smart fortwo in Austin, TX.

Kate Miller-Wilson is a professional freelance SEO content writer living in the Twin Cities. Visit her website or email her for information about her freelance writing services.

New and VERY LIMITED Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren 722 edition. Get’em while they’re hot, for they are in a very limited supply, 150 to be exact.

A little bit of history here; back in 1955 Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson won the Mille Miglia in a MB SLR that they, in a sense, created the trademark for MB: 722. Why the odd number? This was the team’s starting time in the race, 7:22AM, thus the huge red number painted on their car. So now the car maker has given this same number to a limited edition of the old SLR, the McLarren built SLR.

If you don’t own one, you can be one of the few, the proud, and the “about $1 million less in my bank account” group. Actual cost is about $480,000, plus figure getting here to the US and paying the luxury vehicle tax and so on, will tally up to right around that $1 million mark.

They will be painted Crystal Antimony Grey and come with unique 19″ alloy wheels that are painted black. Drive train  is an impressive 5.5L supercharged V8 which is hand=built in the AMG engine shop in Affalterbach, generating 650HP and boasting a 0-60 speed at 3.7 seconds! Top speed is reported to get up to about 210Mph.

Interior, bucket-type seats are upholstered in leather/Alcantara which are made to provide outstanding lateral support. Combine this with lamborghini-style doors and a sleek aerodynamic body and you have one helluva ride!