Economy doesn’t slow super-rich at Frankfurt Auto Show
Whatever worries they might have about government defaults in Greece and Italy and a possible European recession haven’t dampened the spirits of the truly wealthy visitors to the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show.
The new Maserati Kubang is one of the hottest tickets at the show and Fiat’s other premium brand, Ferrari, expects record sales this year.
According to a report on Bloomberg News, Ferrari says it is on track to deliver 7,000 cars this year because of its first “family car,” the $356,000 four-seat FF, which went on sale earlier in 2011. According to Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Ferrari will cap its annual output at about 7,000 cars going forward to maintain the brand’s exclusivity.
Chrysler/Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne noted that customers at the Ferrari exhibit weren’t worried about the economy, commenting, “The last Ferrari customers I saw at the show weren’t crying.”
Maserati and Ferrari will bring much-needed profits to Fiat S.p.A. that might help the company get through lean times for its Fiat and Lancia brands where the uncertain Italian economy has taken a big bite out of sales. On the European Stoxx 600 Automobile & Parts Index, Fiat was the worst performing stock, down 42% compared to an overall slide of 24 percent. The best performer? BMW.
Based on figures compiled by Allpar, the Italian ultra-premium brands are also doing quite well in the U.S. Through the end of August, Ferrari sales are up 17.5% and Maserati sales have climbed 23.6 percent.
It’s not just Ferrari and Maserati having a good year; the new Lamborghini LP700-4 Aventador carries a price tag of nearly $380,000 but, even if you have that kind of money, you’ll be waiting for 18 months; production is sold out through the first part of 2013. Lamborghini is also going ahead with the production of 20 copies of the Sesto Elemento at an estimated $1.6 million apiece.
Based on year-over-year comparisons, U.S. Bentley sales are up 53.1 percent: only Mitsubishi and Jeep have higher percentage increases.
While sales of the high-dollar S-Class are down slightly, those of the $189,000 SLS AMG are up 30.8 percent and deliveries of the $105,000 G-Class SUV have jumped 57.6 percent, the biggest percentage improvement for any Daimler SUV.
For the first eight months of 2011, European luxury vehicle sales are up 14 percent, well ahead of the 10.5% improvement in the overall light vehicle market.
