The Toyota Prius arrived in the United States in 2000 amid the SUV boom with the sole purpose of squeezing as many miles as possible out of a gallon of gas. Before the Prius, a “hybrid car” was not something American consumers had seen, let alone driven.

Lexus is Toyota's luxury division, but Toyota often builds a Lexus-badged twin to capture buyers who want that extra refinement without the higher sticker price. The Grand Highlander and the Lexus TX mimic that pattern as closely as any two vehicles have. Both are three-row midsize SUVs, both ride on a version of the same platform, and both come from the same Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Princeton, Indiana.

As the second quarter of the year comes to a close, sales figures from automakers have flooded in. In a turbulent year, there have been a lot of surprise wins and disappointing losses. However, in the world of luxury vehicles, there is one nameplate that continues to hold on to its dominance.

Toyota introduced a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius for the 2012 model year, giving buyers a way to drive on electricity alone for short trips while keeping the same hybrid safety net for longer ones. More than a decade later, that basic idea has not changed all that much, but the price of admission has.

A new mainstream SUV now costs enough that it opens the door to something many buyers never consider: a lightly used luxury model. Thanks to steep depreciation, premium crossovers that sold for well over $50,000 just a few years ago can now be found for the same money as a brand-new family SUV.