This is especially evident in the sales of luxury brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley. For example, Jerry Span, a representative of Rolls-Royce's American branch, admitted that before the coronavirus, 1/3 of all brand sales in the US were used cars under the Provenance program (which, in particular, includes warranty service), while today their share is 75%, writes Automotive News Europe.
Bentley has a similar story: between 2016 and 2021, sales of used cars of this brand grew by 34%. And overall, today's interest in used Bentleys is 53% higher than 5 years ago.
Moreover, it's not about a lack of money. This is confirmed by the sales statistics of new cars for both British brands. In particular, in April of this year, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös announced that the first quarter of 2021 was record-breaking in sales for the entire 116-year history of the brand. At the same time, orders for new cars are stretched six months ahead. In turn, Bentley sold 30% more new cars in 2020 than the year before (11,206 units).
Lamborghini is also experiencing one of the best periods in its history – the Italian brand not without boasting states that queues for supercars stretch 10 months ahead.
So what's the matter then? Oddly enough, it's mostly about psychology. According to Automotive News Europe, the pandemic limited the use of money, made travel and trips difficult, and prevented spending time at exclusive events in various parts of the world. This led to wealthy people having more time, they began to save extra money and compensate for the above losses by buying new things, including luxury cars. In addition, the attitude to life has changed – the aforementioned Rolls-Royce representative notes that more and more people want to use what they can afford and adhere to the position 'I want it here now'. They don't want to wait for new cars for six months to a year and are happy to drive no less exclusive cars with mileage. Well, a pleasant bonus is the rationality of buying a 'used car': when purchasing used Rolls-Royces, buyers also avoid depreciation: for example, the same Wraith loses 20% of its value as soon as it leaves the showroom, and 40% after five years of ownership.
