In 2021, Rolls-Royce's global sales set an all-time high in the brand's 117 years of existence – 5,586 new cars were sold, up 49% year-on-year. Many people may say that this number is only more than 5,000 vehicles, which is less than a fraction of the sales of luxury car brands such as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. But the "gold content" of this data is that 40% of Rolls-Royce's sales are contributed by Cullinan, and the current manufacturer guidance price of this model in China is as high as 6.1 million to 7.8 million yuan.
Rolls-Royce Cullinan (Image: Rolls-Royce)
Rolls-Royce sales soared to an all-time high, just a microcosm of the performance of the ultra-luxury car brand market in 2021. Ultra-luxury car brands, including Bentley and Lamborghini, have achieved rapid growth in the past year and contributed the best sales results in history.
Such performance is not common in the industry, especially in 2021, the global automotive industry can be described as a huge pressure. This year, the impact of the epidemic has not subsided, and the shortage of parts has almost become an industry problem, but the ultra-luxury brands with high prices have handed over the best results in history. There are reports that because luxury car manufacturers prioritize scarce resources such as chips to the most profitable models, this has led to higher sales of ultra-luxury car brands such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley, and the sales of popular brands have fallen behind.
At the same time, the common characteristics of ultra-luxury car brands are also more concerned by the industry, one is that the Chinese market accounts for an increasing proportion of global sales, and the other is that SUVs have become the largest sales growth point for most ultra-luxury car brands.
The carnival of ultra-luxury car brands
In 2021, the report card of ultra-luxury car brands is generally rising.
Rolls-Royce's new "Celebratory Goddess" logo (Image: Rolls-Royce)
According to official Rolls-Royce data, a total of 5,586 new cars were sold worldwide in 2021, an increase of 49% year-on-year. Among them, the SUV model Cullinan accounted for 40% of total sales. It is understood that the current Rolls-Royce car orders have been scheduled until the third quarter of 2022, with reference to the global delivery volume of Rolls-Royce in 2021, which means that sales are expected to climb further this year.
Martin Fritsches, president of Rolls-Royce Auto Americas, said that many buyers will be first-time owners of Rolls-Royce in 2021, and many young people who have made their fortunes through the stock market and cryptocurrencies have also joined the ranks of luxury car owners.
Lamborghini set a record global delivery of 8,405 units in 2021, the best sales year in the company's history, up 13% year-on-year from 2020.
Bentley Flying Spur (Image: Bentley)
Also achieving high growth is Bentley. In 2021, Bentley sold 14,659 vehicles, an increase of 31% over the previous year. Bentley said that such achievements are due to the new product portfolio and the growth of consumer demand for new energy vehicles. Bentley announced at the press conference that it plans to launch the first pure electric vehicle in 2025, and then launch five pure electric vehicles in the next five years, gradually replacing the existing models, and achieving pure electrification of all products by 2030, reshaping the brand into a pure electric vehicle brand.
In addition, Aston Martin delivered 6,182 new vehicles worldwide in 2021, up 82% year-over-year. Companies said that their growth points mainly came from the first SUV model, the DBX.
The Chinese market has made a significant contribution
It is worth mentioning that the sales of these ultra-luxury car brands in 2021 are high, mostly due to the contribution of the Chinese market. At the same time, rejuvenation is also the main feature and trend of China's ultra-luxury car consumption.
Bentley booth at Chengdu Motor Show 2021 (Image: Bentley)
Bentley sold 14,659 vehicles worldwide, of which 4,033 units were sold in the Chinese market alone, accounting for 27.5% of the total global sales, and sales in the Chinese market increased by 40% year-on-year, exceeding the global growth rate of Bentley brand sales. Among them, Bentley Flying Spur and Bentayga are the main sales models in China, and their annual sales have increased compared with the past. In an exclusive interview with China News Weekly, Billy's Executive General Manager of Bentley Automotive Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Macau revealed: "Bentley Motors' Chinese customers show a trend of younger age, with an average age of 39 years old. ”
Rolls-Royce CEO Toston Müller Utfords said that sales in the U.S., Canada and China all hit record highs in 2021, especially the new Gust and Cullinan. At present, Phantom, Gust, Cullinan, Phantom and Shadow have all been introduced into the Chinese market, of which the lowest starting price is Gust of 4.73 million yuan, and the highest starting price model is the Phantom of nearly 8 million yuan. As more and more new customers around the age of 30 join the camp of car owners, the average age of Rolls-Royce global car owners has now dropped to 43 years old, of which the average age of Chinese owners is 39 years old.
For Porsche, whose price is relatively "close to the people", the Chinese market is already a mainstay. In 2021, the Porsche brand sold a total of 301,900 new vehicles in the global market, an increase of 11% year-on-year, of which the Cumulative Delivery of 95,700 units in the Chinese market became the largest single market of the Porsche brand in the world for the seventh time. Porsche owners are even younger, and according to previous statistics, the average age of Porsche China owners is only 35 years old.
In 2021, global sales of Mercedes-Maybach vehicles increased to 15,730 units, up 50.7% year-on-year. The contribution of the Chinese market is even more pronounced: about 11,000 Maybach models have been sold to China, accounting for more than 70%. The data shows that the average age of Maybach car owners worldwide is 46 years old, while the average age of Chinese Maybach car owners is even less than 41 years old.
In addition, Ferrari's domestic insurance volume in 2021 was 702 units, an increase of 137% year-on-year; Lamborghini's domestic delivery of 935 units and a 55% increase made the Chinese market the brand's second largest market in the world; Aston Martin sold a total of 894 new cars in the domestic market throughout the year, of which dbx was 608, higher than the brand's total domestic sales last year; and Maserati achieved 7100 insurance in the domestic market. Of these, 4,300 are SUV models, the Levante.
Multiple factors work together
Under the adverse influence of multiple external factors, what is the reason for the soaring sales of ultra-luxury car brands in the global market, especially in the Chinese market?
First, the number of super-rich people has increased, and wealth has generally climbed.
Although the top rich do not necessarily buy ultra-luxury cars, those who can afford ultra-luxury cars can basically be counted as rich. Therefore, from the data changes in the global billionaire list, it can also be seen that part of the reason for the increase in sales of ultra-luxury cars. According to forbes magazine's 2021 Global Billionaires List, 2,755 billionaires made the all-time record, including 493 new entrants.
The data shows that the wealth of the world's richest people increased by $5.1 trillion in 2021, reaching a total of $13.1 trillion as of December 29, an increase of 60% year-on-year. In addition, the number of billionaires increased by 660 to 2755.
Forbes magazine said: "This year is different, it is not that the new crown epidemic is coming, but that public offerings are very active, cryptocurrency prices have soared, and stock prices have soared." According to Forbes, billionaires will be worth $13.1 trillion in 2021, compared to $8 trillion in 2020. Moreover, 86% of the richest people on the list are richer than the previous year.
In addition, the pandemic has changed the way some of the rich live and how they think about life.
Affected by the global epidemic, people's travel radius has been greatly shortened, especially worldwide travel activities. Some analysts believe that this part of the savings will stimulate the wealth upstarts to spend in other areas.
Rolls-Royce CEO Toston Muller Utfords said bluntly that an important reason why Rolls-Royce can have such high sales in 2021 is that the staggering number of deaths caused by the new crown epidemic makes people realize that they should be happy in time.
Of course, there is also a layer of reason that the ultra-luxury car brand itself has a low sales base, and sales have not been the main indicator of the value of the ultra-luxury car brand. In the context of the shortage of chips and raw materials, the most profitable models also have the right to preferentially occupy resources. Multiple factors have combined to achieve the sales performance of ultra-luxury car brands, and this trend will continue for some time.
Source: China News Weekly
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