NEWS
Prestige-car sales show resilience
Luxury consumerism drives brands such as Porsche, Rolls-Royce and Bentley to buck the slow-sales trend
Sales of new luxury and sports cars in SA largely held firm in 2018 despite a slowdown in overall vehicle sales, and some industry observers believe the prestige-car market looks set to grow in the face of consumer belt-tightening in other segments. Some are more positive than others. Driving a growth sentiment is an enormousshift in luxury consumerism, says Marc de St Pern, operations manager for European Automotive Imports — SA, SA’s Maserati importer. “A report published by Market Research Future looking at global luxury vehicle market analysis for 2018-23 estimates that the luxury vehicle market will grow at an annual rate of 35% over the next four years,” says Pern. “While luxury cars are considered status symbols, many customers are now buying these vehicles to express individuality,” he says. Spending power in the prestige-car market showed a lot of resilience in 2018 in the face of a hike in the maximum ad valorem tax from 25% to 30%, a luxury tax that works on a sliding sca...
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