Sales of Sports Cars at the Moment
Discussion
I don't know if anyone else has posted this already (mods - please delete if they have), but Harry Metclafe's excellent column in Evo magazine is this month about the sales of sports cars at the moment. The figure that lept out at me from the page is this: In the first four months of 2013, Land Rover sold 19,157 Range Rover Evoques. I had to look that up, but basically it's a luxury SUV type thing. However, the shocking statistic is that that's more than the total sales of: Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus and Maserati; plus all variants of Audi R8, BMW Z4, Jaguar F type, Jaguar XK, Mazda MX5, Merc SLS, Nissan GT-R, Nissan 370Z, Porsche 911, Porsche Cayman, Porsche Boxster, Subaru Impreza, Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86.. combined! Basically, the message is that sports cars aren't selling and SUVs are. Take Lotus as an example: according to Harry in 2013 so far they've sold 17 Elises and 11 Evoras in Europe; that's probably about one or two per dealership I'd guess? The Evora is the best everyday useable car I've ever driven in my entire life and that's how many get sold in four months of 2013 - 11...
Is it just me or does anyone else find this extremely surprising and rather shocking? Given similar road tax, mpg etc (Harry chose a Range Rover for his comparison after all, not a Prius), sports cars are surely way more desirable than SUVs? Who dreams of owning an SUV? Why not just buy a hatchback and save a wedge of cash? Sports cars are what kids put on their walls and play with on scaletrix, die-cast models, playstations and X-Boxes - aren't they? When those kids grow up, they want to own a car like that; at least that's the case with me and also most of my friends. Is that not how things work anymore?
Is it just me or does anyone else find this extremely surprising and rather shocking? Given similar road tax, mpg etc (Harry chose a Range Rover for his comparison after all, not a Prius), sports cars are surely way more desirable than SUVs? Who dreams of owning an SUV? Why not just buy a hatchback and save a wedge of cash? Sports cars are what kids put on their walls and play with on scaletrix, die-cast models, playstations and X-Boxes - aren't they? When those kids grow up, they want to own a car like that; at least that's the case with me and also most of my friends. Is that not how things work anymore?
MissChief said:
I'd say that it means people that buy Evoques wouldn't be buying a sports car anyway.
True, but the Evoque is just used as a comparative measure for those of us not used to looking at automotive sales figures. Putting the RR Evoque to one side for a minute, isn't it shocking that that huge list of performance cars sells less than 20,000 units across the whole of Europe in 4 months? That's not a lot of cars. I was stunned!
is the best thing ever!! Knows best. 
On today's roads I can entirely see why. With the endless congestion, daft speed limits and poor road surfaces I find owning a fast road car very frustrating and I'm seriously considering selling off the rest of the fleet and just having a 4x4 as an only car. At least then even stuck in a traffic jam one has a comfy armchair, a nice view and lower blood pressure.
Sad times though
Sad times though
RobM77 said:
Sports cars are what kids put on their walls and play with on scaletrix, die-cast models, playstations and X-Boxes - aren't they? When those kids grow up, they want to own a car like that; at least that's the case with me and also most of my friends. Is that not how things work anymore?
What about your female friends? Just switched from a Lotus Evora to a Range Rover Evoque, I guess I'm exactly the type of person responsible for this trend! Reason...new baby...awesome finance deals...rock solid residuals. Won't be long before I have another Elise as a second car though...very tempting SC versions from new at £399 pm with £6k deposit!
Its just trend,
The evoque is the fashionista trinket du jour, these are the same people who bought the mk1 TT, boxster and SLK by the boat load when small roadsters were in fashion.
I would say the desirability of fast cars has taken a big hit because its become so politically uncorrect to speed, aside from the cameras and hiding police most other drivers and passers by are outraged by any sort of frisky driving these days, plus the recession meaning owning something tasty will get you shouted at, spat at, paintwork keyed and car egged means they are often more trouble than joy,
I love exotics but i wouldnt own one in the uk, too much motorist hate here to enjoy it the way you could ten years ago.
The evoque is the fashionista trinket du jour, these are the same people who bought the mk1 TT, boxster and SLK by the boat load when small roadsters were in fashion.
I would say the desirability of fast cars has taken a big hit because its become so politically uncorrect to speed, aside from the cameras and hiding police most other drivers and passers by are outraged by any sort of frisky driving these days, plus the recession meaning owning something tasty will get you shouted at, spat at, paintwork keyed and car egged means they are often more trouble than joy,
I love exotics but i wouldnt own one in the uk, too much motorist hate here to enjoy it the way you could ten years ago.
Confirms my views that,
- Big 4x4 is what any Brit who gets a sniff of cash seem to aspire to these days. Don't understand it at all. Guess it's Heat magazine, Geordie Shore and the royals.
- PH is full of big talk about performance cars but very, very few people actually put their money where their mouth is.
- Any attempted relaunch of TVR will be suicidal.
whoami said:
RobM77 said:
whoami said:
RobM77 said:
ILand Rover sold 19,157 Range Rover Evoques. I had to look that up, but basically it's a luxury SUV type thing.
You needed to look what up?
Not from someone with more than 23,000 posts on a motoring forum.
Ozzie Osmond said:
Confirms my views that,
Sadly I agree. I commented on a thread yesterday about an XFR-S estate asking why the feckity feck anyone needs a 500+bhp estate car costing £80k, and the most sensible answer was that whilst the far better looking saloon's boot was perfectly adequate, it was easier to "throw things into" the estate.- Big 4x4 is what any Brit who gets a sniff of cash seem to aspire to these days. Don't understand it at all. Guess it's Heat magazine, Geordie Shore and the royals.
- PH is full of big talk about performance cars but very, very few people actually put their money where their mouth is.
- Any attempted relaunch of TVR will be suicidal.
"Lifestyle" b
ks has taken over the asylum. I mean who the hell buys an £80k car then needs to "throw" something into the back with less accuracy than needed to hit a saloon car boot opening? There are plenty that do, and I'll tell you who. It's people who are desperate to show everyone how much money they have by sinking it all into one flashy car which by the time they've loaded themselves up on finance needs to be all things to all people because they haven't got a pot to piss in once they've signed the paperwork for more suitable 2nd vehicles to do winter time and skip runs.Fur coat, no knickers.
jamieduff1981 said:
Sadly I agree. I commented on a thread yesterday about an XFR-S estate asking why the feckity feck anyone needs a 500+bhp estate car costing £80k, and the most sensible answer was that whilst the far better looking saloon's boot was perfectly adequate, it was easier to "throw things into" the estate.
"Lifestyle" bks has taken over the asylum. I mean who the hell buys an £80k car then needs to "throw" something into the back with less accuracy than needed to hit a saloon car boot opening? There are plenty that do, and I'll tell you who. It's people who are desperate to show everyone how much money they have by sinking it all into one flashy car which by the time they've loaded themselves up on finance needs to be all things to all people because they haven't got a pot to piss in once they've signed the paperwork for more suitable 2nd vehicles to do winter time and skip runs.
Fur coat, no knickers.
My kinda gal! Or was that not what this thread was about? "Lifestyle" b
ks has taken over the asylum. I mean who the hell buys an £80k car then needs to "throw" something into the back with less accuracy than needed to hit a saloon car boot opening? There are plenty that do, and I'll tell you who. It's people who are desperate to show everyone how much money they have by sinking it all into one flashy car which by the time they've loaded themselves up on finance needs to be all things to all people because they haven't got a pot to piss in once they've signed the paperwork for more suitable 2nd vehicles to do winter time and skip runs.Fur coat, no knickers.
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