Luxury car market remains buoyant
A survey conducted by Oracle Finance, the prestige car finance specialist, has shown an increase in buyers funding sports and prestige cars during 2010, despite the continued reports of a tough economic climate.
Oracle has seen an increase in the number of prestige and sports cars being financed over the course of 2010 amounting to an increase of 11% in comparison to 2009.
This upturn in spending is a strong indicator that buyers in the luxury car bracket were keen to take advantage of low interest rates and excellent vehicle finance deals without the burden of paying for a vehicle outright. Ultimately this demonstrates a clear intent from buyers to secure a good deal before inflationary pressures force interest rates to rise.
The team at Oracle witnessed a strong year for Range Rover with the Sport in particular accounting for almost 10% of the vehicles financed throughout the year and the Range Rover brand accounted for almost 18% in total of the finance deals they agreed. Audi sat happy as the 2nd most popular car accounting for 14% of the finance written with Oracle but was closely followed by BMW (12%), Porsche (9%) and Aston Martin (9%), in a survey which analysed buying trends of car owners in the £25k bracket and over.
The belief at Oracle is that part of the reason for the increase in activity at the top end of the prestige market is also helped at present by the reduced rate at which luxury vehicles depreciate in comparison to lower value and lower spec models. By purchasing a higher spec model and paying the balance over a 2, 3 or 4 year period buyers aren’t taking the hit of laying down large amounts of cash on an outright purchase and they won’t feel the negative equity when they decide to change car.
Oracle’s findings also point towards their client base, which is made up primarily of business owners, key decision makers and successful entrepreneurs, using their eye for a deal by not simply going with dealer finance and instead looking for alternative finance providers who are able to offer a good deal and an efficient service. Findings point to these customers making a conscious effort to treat the buying process as two different transactions. As opposed to purchasing the car and finance from the dealer the first transaction being the purchase of the car and the second being the finance deal they secure to do so.
Peter Brook, Managing Director at Oracle, commented: “Although the challenging economic climate has generally slowed spending on luxuries, we have continued to see a high demand for prestige vehicles. We have formulated arrangements and partnerships with the leading lenders in the UK and internationally, which allows us to provide the finance packages to meet our customers’ needs. As we aren’t affiliated to one car brand we tend to have a very savvy clientele who view finance as a separate transaction to purchasing a vehicle, thereby sourcing the best quotes available.”
Read more about this story on The Daily Telegraph website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8313657/Luxury-car-market-still-buoyant-says-report.html
