Business | High-performance motoring

The priciest cars are selling fast

Rolls-Royce and Ferrari are at full throttle

A driver returns to his red Ferrari parked on the pavement outside the Louis Vuitton store in Bond Street, on 12th August 2022, in London, England. After the Bank of England raised interest rates to 1.75%, there is a certainty that Britain will be in recession by the fourth quarter of 2022 and with inflation to climb further. (Photo by Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images) — Image: Getty Images

Jan 12th 2023

Pricey automobiles are impressive on paper and on the road. For their makers, they also often leave a good impression on the income statement. Global car sales in 2022, at around 79m vehicles, are below the level of a decade ago. Yet demand for fancier sets of wheels costing more than €100,000 ($107,000) grew by around 6.5% a year over the same period, according to Bernstein, a broker.

Last year the surge was particularly pronounced for the most exclusive motors. Whereas 1.3% fewer cars were sold in 2022 than the year before, according to s&p Global, a consultancy, on January 9th Rolls-Royce said that it had sold 8% more of its ultimate automotive status symbols last year. Ferrari, the Italian manufacturer of rich persons’ playthings (whose biggest shareholder, Exor, also part-owns The Economist’s parent company), may do even better. Between January and September Ferrari sold 20% more cars than in the same period the year before.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "High-performance motoring"