At the top of an automobile market paralyzed by the health crisis, luxury cars shine: Rolls-Royce, Bentley and even Bugatti had a record year in 2021, with SUVs at the top of the sales list, these raised vehicles that look like a whole -ground but with services close to a sedan.
Rolls (BMW group) improved on its historical record of 2019 by selling 5586 cars. Affluent customers flocked to the new coupe”Ghost” and on the Cullinan SUV, sold from 300,000 euros (in France).
Bentley and Lamborghini (Volkswagen group) also presented their sales records this week with respectively 14,659 and 8,405 cars sold worldwide, in particular thanks to their Bentayga and Urus SUVs, sold around 200,000 euros.
On the hyper-luxury side, Bugatti welcomed the “best financial year ever in the company’s history“, with 150 cars ordered, for an entry ticket of around three million euros.
“It’s the same everywhere: following crises, the rich are richer and the poor are poorer“, philosopher Adolfo De Stefani Cosentino, the president of the Italian Federation of dealers (Federauto). “Luxury and premium held up much better than the generalist segments“.
“There’s a lot of money ready to be spent“, Rolls-Royce boss Torsten Muller-Otvos said in an interview with AFP in May 2021. “I was impressed by the number of customers who told us that with the Covid, they understood that they might die tomorrow and that now is the time to enjoy life“.
New breath and real challenge
In parallel with the health crisis, the global automotive industry is hit by a shortage of components, in particular electronic chips, which prevent the production of vehicles when order books are full. The crisis has prevented the production of 9.5 to 11 million vehicles globally in 2021, according to the firm PwC.
On the premium side, BMW recorded a record year with 2.2 million cars sold, particularly in China and the United States. Enemy brother Mercedes-Benz saw global sales drop 5% due to chip shortages, but sales of its AMG sports division and luxury brand Maybach soared.
Buy the components a little more expensive
“Only the most demanded vehicles are produced“, emphasizes José Baghdad, partner and head of the automotive sector at PwC France and Maghreb.”Premium manufacturers are also willing to buy the components a little more expensive“.
And the pleasures of luxury are not only experienced on four wheels: Italian Ducati motorcycles (from 15,000 euros for the most sporty) also improved their sales record in 2021, with nearly 60,000 copies sold worldwide.
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“There is a macroeconomic factor: part of the population has become very wealthy in recent years and has the capacity to buy luxury and very large luxury vehicles“, underlines the analyst. In the ultra-luxury micro-market, “these cars have also shown in recent years that they do not lose value and even gain value“.
SUVs benefit from a global fashion effect but they are also the most accessible vehicles of these brands. Ferrari, which is due to publish its results in early February, is also due to present its first SUV this year, the “Thoroughbred“.
Another marker of the automobile of the 2020s, electrification also ends up affecting luxury, as “a new breath but a real challenge“, points out Mr. Baghdad at PwC.”One of the interests of these brands was motorization, with a particular power and sound. By switching to electric, it will be more difficult to distinguish them“.
At Porsche (which also recorded a record year by exceeding 300,000 vehicles sold, particularly in China and America), the legendary sporty 911 was overtaken by the Taycan electric sedan, which saw its sales double in one year.
