Things are Looking Up for Exotics Like Lamborghini and Aston Martin
You ever see a Rolls-Royce or a Ferrari while you’re out and about, then start enjoying your day a little more? If so, then expect a lot more of those pick-me-ups. Automotive industry analysts predict sales in the ultraluxury segment, which includes Bentley, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Ferrari, and Aston Martin, will increase by almost 40 percent over the next five years.
It’s not as if that part of the market is in bad shape as things are now. Those first four manufacturers posted record sales in 2014. Ferrari and Maserati generated 21 percent ($754 million) of parent company FCA’s $3.6 billion operating profit despite making up less than one percent of FCA’s global vehicle sales.
Of course, the sales of such (sky) high-end vehicles did receive a boost from the upswing in the U.S. economy (‘Murica!) In 2015, Americans are expected to account for one-third of the ultraluxury segment’s 62,027 global sales, according to IHS Automotive data. By 2018, U.S. ultraluxury sales should exceed the 26,000 mark; global sales should be north of 86,000. Bentley predicts it alone will be moving 20,000 vehicles worldwide by 2020. Its upcoming Bentayga SUV should help the company hit that figure.
The main number Lamborghini has had a problem reaching is one high enough for production. It can’t keep up with demand. Customers are on a seven-month waiting list for Aventadors. Two-thirds of those who ordered Huracans last year haven’t received them. The raging bull delivered 19 percent more vehicles (2,530) than it did in 2013, so let’s hope – for the sake of car-lovers everywhere – that it can do the same or better this year.
One of Lamborghini’s competitors, Ferrari, improved upon its 2013 performance. That’s when it capped its production at 7,000 cars a year to keep its offerings exclusive and profitable. However, in 2014, Ferrari management removed the self-imposed limit and sold four percent more prancing horses (7,255). By 2020, the automaker wants to sell 10,000 Ferraris a year.
Its corporate cousin Maserati had an even better 2014. It delivered 36,448 cars, an increase of more than 100 percent compared to the prior year. (The $71,050 Ghibli had a lot to do with that.) The manufacturer’s target for 2018? 75,000. Its sales (and those of Ferrari) for this year will be – in the words of FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne – “basically stable.” Maserati won’t be rolling out any new vehicles in 2015 because it’s getting ready to launch its Levante SUV in 2016. Ferrari will be replacing its 458 Italia with the turbocharged 488 GTB.
Aston Martin’s clients drove home about 3,400 of the company’s British sports cars in 2014. IHS thinks it may bump annual sales up to 6,000+ by 2018. Private equity firm Investindustrial bought 37.5 percent of AM in 2012. In January, its chairman, Andrea Bonomi, said Aston Martin has the potential to manufacture as many as 8,000 cars a year.
The Geneva Motor Show officially starts on March 5, so we’ll soon be getting plenty of glimpses of the ultraluxury cars that will be increasingly seen on the streets and brightening the days of people everywhere in the coming years.
Chime in with your thoughts on the forum. >>
via [Auto News – sub. req’d]
