The Luxury Motor Market Is Unfazed by Dearer Fuel

While looking at Boston.com the other day it was impossible not to notice the main headlines: Gold has reached record highs, the dollar continues to fall against foreign currencies, the market is down big-time and of course, gas prices continue to climb to record levels with some analyst speculating $4/gallon by this summer. Every day we read different articles about how to save at the pump. From fuel saving due to what some call “hypermiling,” meaning to drive your vehicle in such a way to achieve as much as 100 miles/gallon or more, to becoming more thrifty at the supermarket in order to retain more money for the growing gas prices, one can’t help but be affected.

This got me thinking. With all the focus on fuel savings and more and more car companies launching hybrid models, the top tier luxury/supercar brands must be taking a bath. Well in fact, the opposite is true. Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce have not only shown significant increases in online activity but also achieved record sales last year. Bentley sales were just over 10 thousand units, up 7% year-over-year. Lamborghini was up 15% year-over-year with slightly more than 2,400 units sold. And Rolls-Royce showed the most improvement year-over-year, up 25% with 1,010 units sold.

Apparently the demand for these vehicles is only increasing. In the U.S., Lamborghini’s largest market, they have more than doubled their number of dealerships in less than two years from 14 to 30. At the same time Rolls-Royce and Bentley continue to break into new markets with great success. 2007 marked Bentley’s first year in the Korean market selling 100 cars.

So while most of us are worried about the possibility of a recession or even depression, and constantly complaining while experiencing the much overused phrase “Pain at the Pump,” there is obviously a select group willing to shell out large sums of money for one of these high end, gas guzzling automobiles. With sales at record highs and website traffic increasing dramatically monthly and annually, it’s nice to see at least some of us get to drive a supercar!

Comments

[User 148608]

There will always be wealthy individuals around the world who are immune to the fluctuations of the financial markets. Lamborghinis, Rolls and Ferraris have never been mass market automobiles. They were collectibles with gas at $2.00 a gallon. In a world of $ 8.00 a gallon, they will be even more unique.

[leh]

I'm guessing many of these cars are being bought and driven by the very people benefiting from high oil prices, namely ultra-wealthy Russians and Middle Easterners. A recent article about the "new" Russia in Time or Newsweek made mention of all the high end luxury cars in the streets of Moscow.