GONE IN 60 SECONDS
No brakes on sales of sports cars
WHILE car sales figures look anything but healthy, luxury cars are speeding off the showroom floors.
This again illustrates the gap between rich South Africans, who have largely shrugged off the consumer slowdown, and poorer consumers who are struggling to keep their heads above water.
Last month alone, Porsche sold 12 vehicles to South Africans at prices of R680 000 for a Cayman to R2-million for a Gran Turismo — in line with a rise in sports car sales in recent years.
Sales of the German car, first made in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, hit 506 in South Africa in 2009. But last year, sales almost tripled to 1 416, according to National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) figures.
And it isn’t just Porsche.
Maserati, which sold 63 cars last year, sold five new cars last month.
Aston Martin, the marque associated with the James Bond franchise, doesn’t disclose its South African sales figures. But general manager Rens Rademeyer said he sold as many units as Maserati did.
For him it is important that his company strikes a delicate balance of reaching sales targets without “prostituting” itself.
It is understood most local Aston Martin sales were in Gauteng.
Rademeyer said confidently that sales were much more sustainable than they were during 2009 — the height of the world’s financial crisis.
These sales show that South Africa has been thriving as an unlikely market for luxury cars.
Porsche recently revealed that in the first half of this year, South Africa was its secondlargest buyer in the Middle East and Africa region.
New orders had increased by almost 100% compared with those of the previous year.
Jaco van Staden, a marketing director of RGT Smart, which provides independent statistics of new vehicle sales, prices and export data to South Africa’s vehicle industry, said Porsche’s success was due mainly to the expansion of its line of 911 sports cars this year, as well as a push in sales of its Boxster, and the launch of the new Cayman in April.
The launch of the newJaguar F-Type has sparked a resurgence in the Jaguar brand. Last month, 35 new Jaguars were sold.
Altogether 260 new cars were sold in the “sports and exotic” category in July, a sizeable increase on the 227 sold in June, according to RGT.
Cars with a price tag of R900 000 or more form the largest part of this segment. The Porsche 911, the new Jaguar FType and the Mercedes-Benz SL are the biggest sellers in this extra-wealthy category.
At the other end of the scale, the Toyota 86 is the biggest seller when it comes to cars selling for R400 000 or less, edging out the Mazda MX-5 and the Subaru BR-Z.
Investment Cars, a dealership dealing exclusively in secondhand luxury cars, had its best month in 12 months, said its dealer principal, Mike Bruce.
Bruce said his dealership failed to sell the only Ferrari it had in stock, probably because Ferraris were far more available than a few years ago.
For example, there were currently 81 Ferraris being sold through the website of online dealer Auto Trader from R275 000 to R4.6-million, and 225 Porsches for sale.
Naamsa executive manager Dr Norman Lamprecht said luxury vehicles could also be regarded as a status symbol or collector’s item. His organisation revealed that last month’s new car sales were down by 0.3% while exports fell 23%.