Just like regular earners around the world, consumption fell the most in 2020, with sales by manufacturers of the most desirable cars falling by double digits, says Felipe Munoz of research firm Jato Dynamics.

“The customers for these cars weren’t as affected as others, however,” he adds.

For the rich, “the biggest problem was that they couldn’t get out of their homes,” says Munoz. “You have postponed your shopping.”

The recovery for exclusive cars was already underway in the final quarter of 2020 when they again reached for their platinum credit cards and cushioned the pandemic shock versus mass market manufacturers.

Annual sales of Lamborghini owned by Volkswagen last year surpassed the 2019 record to 7,430 vehicles, powered by the Italian manufacturer’s hefty Urus SUV, which grossed around 200,000 euros ($ 220,000 in the US).

Factory closed meant Ferrari’s sales fell 10 percent to 9,119 last year.

But the bosses say the Black Horse brand now has a “record order book” powered by the € 450,000 SF90 Stradale – the automaker’s first plug-in hybrid – and the windshield-free two-seater Monza. It is believed to cost around 1.7 million euros.

Ferrari hopes to cross the 10,000 unit mark next year if it will be the last luxury manufacturer to offer an SUV with the “Purosangue”.

– “Time to enjoy life” –

“The luxury market still has very specific rules and customers,” says Guillaume Crunelle, an analyst with the Deloitte auto industry.

“Behavior is much more related to personal situations, how their wealth develops, than to market trends.”

After a year of less consumption, “there is a lot of money to be spent,” Rolls-Royce managing director Torsten Muller-Otvos told AFP.

Nevertheless, the head of the BMW subsidiary also sees the aftermath of the pandemic in people’s purchasing patterns.

“Many of our customers said Covid taught them that life can end easily tomorrow and now is the time to enjoy your life.”

This week the historic British brand launched a yacht-inspired model, the “Boat Tail”, of which only three have been built – and which doesn’t reveal the price.

Müller-Otvos says the new car is “much more sophisticated” than its latest custom-built attachment, the Sweptail, which cost $ 13 million in the region.

– go to china –

Regardless of the one-offs from Rolls-Royce, even the most expensive manufacturers have carried away trends such as the unstoppable march of the SUV – and an environmentally conscious move towards electrification, emphasizes Deloitte’s Crunelle.

The analysis by Jato Dynamics showed that sports cars accounted for only five percent of luxury sales last year, while the market share of SUVs surpassed coupes for the first time.

In the UK, Bentley and McLaren laid off thousands of workers at the start of the virus outbreak – just for Bentley, to achieve record sales of 11,000 units for the € 200,000 Bentayga SUV.

Rolls-Royce had its best quarter to date in early 2021, powered by its New Ghost Coupé and a 2.6-tonne 350,000-euro Cullinan SUV – the most expensive on the market.

And James Bond’s favorite Aston Martin has returned from the brink of bankruptcy with its almost equally chunky DBX.

Looking to the future, “production is fully booked for this year,” says Rolls-Royce’s Muller-Otvos.

Europe and North America remain solid markets for luxury brands, but China has seen most of the growth.

“It’s the best region in the world for wealth creation, and cars are still a very strong symbol of status,” says Crunelle.

Munoz predicts that “with more millionaires and billionaires (in China) each year, the trend is likely to continue”.

This story was published by a wire agency feed with no changes to the text. Only the heading was changed.