COVID’s been good for luxury car sales. Ask Rolls-Royce’s chief why.
2021 saw the most sales in the 117-year history of the UK luxury car manufacturer. Bentley and others did well, too.
As the pandemic and semiconductor shortages caused a slowdown in sales and production for most car manufacturers, luxury car manufacturers like Rolls-Royce and Bentley have seen significant gains.
“Many people witnessed people in their community dying from COVID and that made them think life can be short and you’d better live now rather than postpone until a later date,” Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Rolls-Royce’s chief executive, told the Financial Times. “It is very much due to COVID that the entire luxury business is booming worldwide,” he added. “People couldn’t travel a lot, they couldn’t invest a lot into luxury services … and there is quite a lot of money accumulated that is spent on luxury goods.”
Rolls Royce sales hit all-time record
Britain’s Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (OTCMKTS: RYCEY) said Monday that sales surged almost 50% to 5,586 cars last year. The manufacturer set records in most regions including the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Greater China. Greater China and the Americas remain the company’s biggest markets with 30% of sales each.
Selling 5,000 cars may not seem like a lot, but most of these cars cost north of $300,000 with many clients adding extras worth just as much. Sometimes these extras can drive the cost of the car to the millions.
Other luxury carmakers report record sales
Bentley — owned by Volkswagen (OTCMKTS: VWAPY) — reported sales of 14,659 vehicles last year. This is a 31% increase over the company’s previous sales record in 2020. Most of the company’s sales are attributed to new models and hybrids.
“This is our second record sales year in the successive years and is a positive sign of our brand strength, operational excellence, strong global demand and affirmation of our strategic priorities.” Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a release.
Lamborghini is another company that expects to have an outstanding year. The company’s CEO said sales in 2021 were higher than its best year. But the company has yet to release its annual report.
Kliment Dukovski doesn’t own shares of any of the aforementioned companies as of the publishing date.
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