9th May 2005
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
Life in the luxury lane
Premium and luxury brand cars to a large extent escaped the heavy slump of 2004 that cursed sales of their down-market siblings - and industry experts are predicting that the high-end segment could be looking at strong growth again this year.
| Class of its own - Mercedes belives its E 200 Kompressor will sell well this year |
Sales success
However, the premium segment, which includes the Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Volvo marques, managed to hold their own despite the difficult year. Most notably Audi's sales rose by 13.4 percent last year, while BMW witnessed a 6.6 percent growth, and Volvo managed to maintain their sales on an even keel by matching the 2004 cars sold in 2003 with 2,202 sales in 2004. Of the four producers it was only Mercedes that felt the chill of declining sales.
BMW Polska's Diana Poteralska-Łyżnik explains why she thinks the segment rode out the storm so well: "Generally in the world the luxury car segment is growing at a faster rate than the whole automobile market. People who buy these cars are much less likely to be affected by the economic situation."
Cars with Class
Piotr Wójcik from Daimler Chrysler Automotive Polska's PR section emphasized that despite the losses, Mercedes managed to maintain its position as leader in the most prestigious upper middle class and luxury segments. "The S-class has a very strong position among luxury cars," Wójcik said. In the upper middle class Mercedes' E Class competes against Audi's A6 and the BMW 5 Series, while the S Class faces formidable challengers in the likes of A8 and the 7 Series. A total of 712 E Class cars were sold in 2004 in comparison to 819 the previous year, while the S Class sold 108 units, also below 2003's tally of 163.
Wójcik said that although secondhand cars do not provide direct competition to the high class models, he admits that the "deluge" of used cars did have an impact on sales. "If you want to buy a new car you usually want to sell your old one. With car lots full of secondhand vehicles that was more difficult," he explained. Wójcik is adamant that Mercedes fortunes in Poland will be boosted this year by the launch of a new S Class.
Avant's advent
The PR Manager of Kulczyk Tradex, the official importer of Audi in Poland, Leszek Kempiński identified the same factor as a hindrance to the sales of new models. With regard to Audi's sales growth in 2004 he underlined that a trend on growth is visible in all segments. "We have been consistantly building our brand image," Kempiński said. Another factor that was key for the brand's successful 2004 in Poland was the revamped product portfolio. "Ninety percent of our offer are new models," he said, adding that in the course of 2004 the new A3 Sportback, A4, A4 Avant, A6, and A8 6.0 models were introduced to the market. This year a new A6 Avant will be added to Audi's fleet.
It is a similar story with vehicles brought in from across the Baltic Sea. Volvo had a good 2004, managing to avoid a fall in units sold. The new S40 was heralded a success - available only since spring it found 360 buyers. Volvo's best selling car in Poland was the S60. The company also recorded 175 sales of its most prestigious and expensive S80 model (prices start from zł.140,000 and the Executive models reaching zł.250-270,000). The strong sales figures gave Volvo 23.7 percent of total sales of the four main premium brands.
Growth potential
As for the prospects of growth in Poland's luxury car market, Daimler Chrysler's Wójcik believes that there is significant potential in the long term.
"To a large extent it depends on the incomes of the middle class, their constant growth will result in the market growing," he said.
Wójcik added that Poland's current situation is similar to Spain's a decade ago. He says the luxury car market has experienced dramatic growth over the last few years following the country's economic upturn.
Poteralska-Łyżnik is of the same opinion. "There were around 10,000 high class cars being sold in Spain prior to their entrance to the EU and today the number is at around 100,000," she explained. She expects a similar scenario in Poland. "The middle class in Poland will grow and so will its incomes after the accession to the EU," she said. Poteralska-Łyżnik said that one of the key reasons BMW decided to open its Polish branch were the market growth prospects. Kempiński, however, claims that the total of over 800,000 secondhand cars imported last year could affect the sales of premium brands over the next few years.
Maybe a Maybach?
If a customer's pocket is particularly deep then there are a range of vehicles to choose from in addition to the high-middle class and luxury segments.
The so-called ultra-luxury segment includes brands such as Maybach, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Rolls-Royce. According to Piotr Wójcik of Daimler Chrysler AP, which lists the Maybach in its portfolio, only a handful of cars of that brand were sold in Poland.
As Poteralska-Łyżnik said BMW Polska doesn't plan to start selling Rolls Royce - the most exclusive brand in its portfolio - in Poland, although as she added that "there is some demand for such ultra-luxury cars as the sale of Maybach shows."
From Warsaw Business Journal
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