What is driving the surge in demand for Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce?
[ad_1]
Sales of luxury cars in Russia have doubled. At the end of March, 68 new cars in this segment were sold compared to 34 for the same period in 2023, according to Autostat data. Every third car sold belongs to the Lamborghini brand. Next come Rolls-Royce and Bentley. In general, Autostat recorded an increase in sales of luxury cars throughout the first quarter. What is this connected with? And will the trend continue? Vladislav Viktorov sorted it out.
In March, wealthy customers bought up most of the inventory of luxury cars, market participants say. The Lamborghini Urus was in greatest demand. Some companies have specially brought more of these premium SUVs into their showrooms. The excitement led to the fact that in the first month of spring, traffic at dealers doubled, and already in the first week of April it fell by the same figure. And this was expected, says Sergei Mordovin, brand director of Avtodom Lamborghini and Bentley:
“There were government recommendations to tighten the rules for importing cars by April 1. Plus the desire of the state to put an insane number of gray suppliers in their place. Everyone was promised that this would end, everyone knew this very well and, accordingly, before April 1, all the cars on the market were sold. Everyone understood that there would no longer be a 30% reduction in the retail price of goods.”
In many ways, the excitement that was observed in the first quarter is an emotional reaction of consumers, which has already faded away, and by the end of the year, sales of luxury cars should stabilize, market participants believe. Another thing is that the model by which these machines will be sold will turn into “made-to-order” delivery. But this will not happen until June, when the issue of money transfers abroad will be resolved. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to bring such a car, notes the founder of the Avtodustator company, Ararat Mardoyan:
“The difficulty in importing such cars is navigating the funds. Transit bank transfers have become significantly more complicated both through Turkey and China, not to mention the UAE. If we find “seamless” methods of translation, or at least with the least transits, then this is done. Logistics for such cars is easier to solve than for ordinary ones, because you can also spend money on air transportation.”
There are already serious problems with premium Chinese electric cars, which in recent years have become the main alternative to European luxury brands. According to the new rules, from April 1, they can only be imported through Russia. The easiest way would be for the manufacturers to do this themselves, since they can save on paperwork. But so far most of the Chinese electric cars have not been officially presented in the country. And whether this will change in the near future is unknown, says Avilon Electro director Sergei Melyukh:
“Now premium Chinese cars can be imported only for individuals, for private users. And, accordingly, the number of such electric vehicles is gradually decreasing, and in connection with this they will become more expensive. Naturally, a pool of premium Chinese cars has formed, such as Zeekr, Avatr, Lixiang, HiPhi, Lotus. They already have their client. This may be the fueled interest of some popular Chinese brands in Russian official imports.”
However, no one is sure that this will happen yet. Considering also the fact that a week ago Reuters reported about the plans of the Chinese premium brand Zeekr to still hold an IPO in the United States, although the process was paused back in November. In this case, an official presence on the Russian market may prevent the company from placing shares on the stock exchange. Although in Russia it is now the best-selling electric car.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
[ad_2]
Source link
