Sales of high-end cars soar, but sink for general market

High-end car sales soared to greater heights last year even as the general market slumped on the back of fewer Certificates of Entitlement (COE).

Among the six brands with cars mostly in the above-$750,000 price range, three posted higher sales here. McLaren and Lamborghini saw sales more than double in 2018, while Rolls-Royce Motor Cars chalked a 24% increase.

Ms. Ong Lay Ling, Group Managing Director of multi-franchise motor firm Eurokars, said, "We did well with McLaren because we had a full-year delivery of the new 720S. We will continue to do well this year with the arrival of the 600LT."

"For Rolls-Royce, we had a very positive response to the new Phantom. Likewise, we expect to continue this trend with the Cullinan," Ms. Ong added. The Cullinan is Rolls-Royce's first SUV.

Lamborghini was the best-selling sportscar brand, with 38 units sold. The growth last year was partly on the back of its Urus SUV, of which 13 units were sold. Arch rival Ferrari was one car behind at 37 units.

Mr. Melvin Goh, Chief Executive of Lamborghini dealer EuroSports Global, said, "It has been a fantastic year for Lamborghini Singapore, especially with the relocation of our showroom to Leng Kee Road and the launch of our first SUV, which has received numerous positive reviews from the media and customers."

In this rarefied segment, Bentley was the top-selling brand, although sales fell from 70 units in 2017 to 61 last year. In total, the six high-end brands accounted for 216 cars sold - 13.1% more than in 2017.

In contrast, the general market shrank because of a smaller supply of COEs - a function of fewer vehicles taken off the road. COE supply is determined every three months, with each quota hinging on the number of vehicles deregistered in the preceeding three months.

Honda pipped long-established front-runner Toyota to secure pole position with 15,040 cars sold, 6.1% fewer than in 2017. Toyota delivered 13,817 cars, 27.8% fewer than the previous year. These numbers however, include a sizeable percentage of parallel imports - cars, which are sourced from overseas dealers instead of directly from car manufacturers.

Excluding parallel imports, Honda agent Kah Motor said its sales improved from 2017, but would not reveal figures. Mercedes-Benz, which also has a parallel import segment, was third. Its sales shrank by 10.7% to 7,122 units.

Hyundai sales surged by more than 70% to reach 6,540 units, making the brand the fourth bestseller of 2018, and the brand with the biggest sales improvement of the lot. 

Mr. Teo Hock Seng, Managing Director of Hyundai agent Komoco, said its performance was all the more significant because "unlike many other brands, Hyundai does not have any parallel import".

Mazda was fifth, but its sales plunged by 36.4% to 5,414 units. This was largely because demand from Lion City Rentals had dried up with the exit of its owner Uber.

On the whole, the passenger car market shrank by 12.7% to 80,281 units. Most of the top 10 best-selling brands outperformed the market.