Sales Of Luxury Cars Have Almost Doubled Because Rich People Are Bored
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Sales of luxury cars almost doubled in the last quarter of 2020 because rich people are bored during the pandemic.
Corvette reported that sales of its new 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray netted more than its entire 2019 sales figure, 20.2% more to be exact.
Lamborghini also reported success. The luxury car brand delivered 7,430 vehicles throughout the year, launched six new models, and broke its all-time six-month sales record in the last half of 2020.
Despite closing for 70 days during the spring, the brand said it was able to ‘bounce back’ to achieve ‘unprecedented production levels’. It also owes its success to Instagram, gaining six million followers during the pandemic.
Brian Miller, the president of luxury car dealership Manhattan Motors, told CNN he has never seen the market like this.
‘I’ve been in this business 40 years and I’ve never seen it like this,’ he said, adding that part of the boom can be credited to rich people sitting around with not much to do apart from look at high-end cars on the internet. This might explain the rise in Lamborghini’s social media following.
Bentley also had its best year yet in 2020, selling a total of 11,206 cars and SUVs, up more than 100 than in 2019.
It’s no secret that the pandemic has seen an increase in billionaires.
The Hurun Global Rich List, published on March 2, revealed that in 2020, 259 people in China joined billionaire status. Despite the disruption caused by coronavirus, the report found that 2020 saw the biggest wealth increase in the last decade.
One famous figure who increased his wealth exponentially in 2020 is Elon Musk, who added $151 billion to his net worth in the space of a year. The bulk of Musk’s wealth comes from his 21% share in Tesla, which is worth an estimated $800 billion. Additionally, SpaceX, of which Musk owns 52%, added $13 billion in value in 2020.
The pandemic has also made billionaires out of those in the green industries. As per the Hurun report, those heading up renewable energy firms increased their wealth by 75% in the last year. Lin Bin, the head of Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio and CEO of Xiaomi, saw his wealth increase by $10 billion.
Another company that hugely profited from the pandemic is the online communication platform Zoom, which made a $660 million profit in 2020. Despite its success, the company paid zero income tax because of its use of ‘executive stock options’.
Under this tactic, companies that ‘compensate their leadership with stock options can write off, for tax purposes, huge expenses that far exceed their actual cost’, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
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Topics: Life, Billionaires, Cars, Elon Musk, Lamborghini, Now
