Yeah, man, the sleeker the wheels, the smoother the ride. And who better to sleek out than your top dogs? When you’re choosing fleet cars for your reps take the opportunity to recognize and reward your high-performance salespeople. The same firms that provide standard sales cars also offer special models that add a little, or a lot, of class to a salesperson’s professional and personal life.

The Lucerne is Buick’s top premium sedan, seating five to six passengers. The Lucerne comes with some very comforting features. There is dual-zone automatic climate control so that the driver and front-seat passenger can set their own temperatures. A six-disk CD player with MP3 capability lets reps plug in their iPods, while XM satellite radio brings in tunes, news, and sports from outside the cabin.

For slipping into tight spaces, the Lucerne has ultrasonic rear-parking assistance – special detectors that give reps audio and visual indications of how far the car is from the car behind it. Once drivers are used to it, this accessory is so useful it is hard to be without it, according to GM spokesman Rob Minton.

Rain-sensing wipers detect moisture on the Lucerne’s windshield, turning the wipers on and adjusting their speed automatically to keep the view clear in any weather. As an option, there is heated washer fluid, a system that heats windshield-washing fluid to 120 degrees in a few seconds. Heated fluid not only melts ice and frost immediately, it also helps get rid of any bugs crunched on windshields in summer, according to Minton.
“Getting rid of bugs is like washing dishes. Hot water does it better.”

The luxury touches on the Lucerne also include eight-way power adjustable driver and passenger seats, heated seats for all, and a remote starting system for warming the car up while drivers are still in the office. Yet GM engineers have kept fuel efficiency impressive for a large car, with 19 mpg city, 28 mpg highway on the V6, while the V8 does 17 mpg city and 25 mpg highway.

Cadillac spells luxury in America, and the Cadillac DSG carries a rep and clients in fine style. Tri-zone climate control gives rear-seat passengers independent choices of temperature, just like the driver and front passenger.

In addition to Lucerne-like features, the DSG is available with adaptive cruise control. Regular cruise control is turned off when approaching a slower car, and then turned on again after passing. Adaptive control lets drivers preset, on a thumb wheel, the distance to maintain from the car ahead. The cruise control automatically adjusts speed to keep the DSG outside the desired margin, speeding up after passing slower vehicles.

For added safety, the DSG comes with GM’s Stabilitrack, designed to keep the car under the driver’s firm control under all kinds of weather conditions and surprises. Stabilitrack’s computer coordinates engines and braking to prevent rolls or skidding. Minton points out that it not only helps on slick roads, but in events such as sudden swerves to avoid traffic incidents or objects falling from other vehicles.

For the smoothest of rides, the DSG is available with magnetic ride control. This system automatically reorients metal particles in the damping fluid of shock absorbers to give the ideal fluid weight, and thus suspension setting, for any road condition. The nifty tool senses road conditions and can adjust the shocks up to 1,000 times per second to match conditions exactly every moment. The DSG gets 17 mpg city and 25 mpg highway.

For a sporty, high-performance luxury car, the Saab 95 is a midsize, four-door sedan with a turbocharged, four-cylinder engine that puts out 260 horsepower. It comes with a five-speed manual transmission for the automobile enthusiasts who like to do their own shifting, and an automatic transmission is available.

The Saab 95 has many GM luxury touches, including parking assistance, rain-sensing wipers, powered and heated front seats, and XM radio. The car’s rear seats are heated as well, “I guess because it comes from Sweden,” Minton says. The whole car was redesigned for 2006, with mileage on the manual version 22 mpg city and 31 mpg highway.

All GM models come with Onstar turn-by-turn navigation, a healthy program of fleet incentives, a 100,000-mile, five-year warranty on power trains, and a new program for 24-hour roadside assistance and courtesy transportation in the event of breakdown.

Ford’s new Lincoln MKZ is a bit like last year’s Zephyr, but with a newly powerful engine, a V6 with 3.5 liters and 24 valves, that cranks out 263 horsepower. There is plenty of interstate passing power in this V6. It powers ups smoothly, with no harshness or clatter. Ford plans to use the same new engine in many more models in future years.
For cost-conscious sales drivers, the new V6 ramps up to full power, 0 to 60 in a little over 6 seconds, on regular 87-octane gasoline, for a saving of 20 cents per gallon or $3 per fill-up.

The MKZ comes standard with six-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive, with all-wheel drive as an option. The suspension is tight and the car corners well. The MKZ has been styled to look like the high performer it is, with a new grille, fresh 17-inch aluminum wheels, and other nice touches inside and out. There is a light interior with lovely maple wood trim to give drivers the feel of a fine automobile. Yet the MKZ retails for just under $30,000, making it a very affordable luxury.

You can also get a luxury feel by choosing a superb high-end sedan with some luxury touches. Toyota’s flagship Avalon is now a stylish, roomy, and very American-looking sales car. Choose the Avalon XLS or Limited edition and reps will get a little extra performance, comfort, and beauty on their daily drives.

Avalon’s V6 has 280 horsepower, the same as an Infiniti sport sedan, and five-speed automatic transmission. The Limited comes with 12 stereo speakers, wheel-mounted audio, climate and cruise control, and power front seats. This edition also adds rain-sensing wipers, memory seats, wood trim, and a powered rear sunshade. Plus, there is 360-watt JBL stereo with a six-disc changer that gets raves from audio enthusiasts.

Inside, the Limited is truly luxurious, with instruments highlighted by glowing gauges surrounded by chrome rings and movable panels sleekly concealing both radio and navigation controls. Front seats are wide and richly covered in perforated leather. Highway riding is smooth and quiet.

A special reward for salespeople with large families could be the size and flexibility of a minivan. There is not a much better choice than the reworked father of the popular minivan movement, Chrysler’s Town and Country, which starts at less than $40,000.

A T&C comes with Stow-n-Go and fold-flat second-row seating. You can dress it up nicely for a sales champ with the trim of the top-tier Limited model. Stow-n-Go has proven very popular over the years. Reps and their families get a flat floor without having to remove second-row seats, doubling the T&C’s storage capacity and giving it more room than the competition.

If you are in the market for something truly extraordinary and are willing to pay a price of almost $90,000, look no further than Mercedes-Benz. The company’s new CLS63 AMG is stunning even automobile fans who are well accustomed to the excellence of everything Mercedes makes.

Mercedes wanted to have the world’s most powerful production model V8, so they designed a new aluminum 6.2-liter engine to power the 63 and borrowed from racing designs. There is no crankshaft flex, cylinders are coated, not lined, and airflow is optimized. This gives the 63 a very impressive 507 horsepower, edging out even the 7-liter Corvette Z06. That kind of power enables the light little 63 to do 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds.

We are talking performance like a Ferrari or Porsche Turbo here. There is no heavy breathing, just silent acceleration until drivers hit the electronic speed limit of 155 mph. The 63’s tailpipes woof deeply, like a big dog too powerful to bother barking, when it passes slower cars.

With perfectly weighted steering, the 63 is a rock on the road and handles precisely. It is almost impossible to break the tires’ grip on the road. There are huge disc brakes, composite in the front, and internally ventilated on all four wheels. There is an infinitely adjustable Airmatic suspension to keep the ride firm but not stiff and with no noticeable body roll. The seven-speed Speedshift gearbox is convenient and easy to use, with two overdrive gears, especially helpful for lightning-like passes on interstates.

Inside, reps will enjoy smooth leather and walnut trim. Comfort is further enhanced by four-zone climate controls. For safety, there are eight airbags and pre-tensioned front seatbelts. Mercedes has even added an anticipatory adjustment of seats, called Neck-Pro, for minor collisions, electronically controlling head restraints to reduce whiplash.

And then there are the extras people have come to expect in a high-end Mercedes: adaptive braking, traction control, Sensotronic brake control, proximity cruise control, and electronic parking aids. Drivers can see around the darkest corners with those bluish cutting-edge head lamps made with xenon gas.