New and especially used car prices were the biggest driver of inflation last year, and inflation started to cool as these numbers fell.
But the 2022 sales of brands like Rolls Royce and Porsche seem to defy this financial crisis.
A record 6,021 cars were sold for Rolls Royces last year, up 8 percent from 2021 and setting an all-time record for the 118-year-old British brand, the company said last week.
More cars were sold, but they were also sold for more money: “Our customers are now happy to pay around half a million euros for their unique car,” CEO Torsten Müller-tvös said in a statement.
At the same time, Porsche announced a similar achievement in Germany: almost 310,000 vehicles were sold worldwide in 2022, a 3% increase over the previous year.
“We have succeeded in making the dream of owning a Porsche a reality for more customers than ever before,” said Detlev von Platen, Porsche board member responsible for sales and marketing.
Both brands acknowledged that the future is indeed uncertain, but it’s hard to imagine a realistic downside for them.
After all, these companies are well aware that the richest 2 percent of consumers account for 40 percent of global luxury spending, and analysts say they will stick with it even as “aspirational” buyers decline, reports the Financial Times.
Investor confidence in Porsche appears to be lacking after a $72 billion split from Volkswagen, with the sports car company announcing it has big plans for its 75th anniversary.
Looking forward to 2023, Rolls Royce told Bloomberg that pre-orders for its all-electric Specter are “exceeding our highest expectations” and commissions for its unique Bespoke workshop are becoming increasingly complex and expensive.
Elsewhere in the luxury market, watchmaker Rolex decided it wanted to take some of the retail market and announced its buyback program.
The Swiss brand is very cautious about raising the retail prices of its products, which has sidelined the company as many of its watches increase in value as soon as they leave the store.
The Financial Times reports that while the prices of Chanel and Louis Vuitton handbags have increased by 20 percent over the past two years, both companies are expected to raise prices in the coming year.
All this suggests a very different story for super-rich buyers of these goods. While most average households balance the cost of more expensive eggs between fluctuating energy bills, few bother to make sure the Rolls Royce they buy is unique.
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