When the Porsche Cayenne debuted in 2003 purists held their noses, panning the SUV as an aberration that besmirched the image of an esteemed racing brand. Now, ten years down the road, the much maligned Cayenne is not only Porsche?s bestselling vehicle but also the harbinger of a new wave of ultraluxury SUVs that includes entries from such unlikely marques as Lamborghini, Maserati and Bentley.
The Porsche numbers are compelling: The Cayenne has nearly doubled the brand?s sales worldwide. Last year the company sold nearly 60,000 of the $48,850 (and up to $110,000) cars, and sales may surge a further 40% by 2017, according to the research firm IHS Automotive.
In an environment where other automobile segments have been on rocky roads, high-end SUVs are looking like the smoothest bet around. Worldwide, SUV sales have grown 56% since 2005. And, gas prices be damned, they?re growing in the U.S., too, almost doubling since 2006 to represent 14% of the market, according to the consulting firm Strategic Vision.
Luxury automakers are elbowing one another to get traction in the segment, and not just the likes of Audi and BMW. Such posh brands as Ferrari (with a four-seat, four-wheel-drive coupe) have fielded brand-bending entries in the past year, while Bentley, Maserati and Lamborghini have unveiled SUV models for the near future. Radical as the moves may seem, these carefully ?calculated departures have been years in the making.
?We did our homework,? says Bentley head Wolfgang D?rheimer, who spearheaded the SUV mission at Porsche and joined Bentley to do the same (he will move on to head Audi?s R&D division this fall). For a company like Bentley, where 90% of sales come from the Continental line alone, adding an SUV to the roster lends a heavy dose of stability.
?The longer we are investigating the SUV idea the more confident we get that this is a very good solution for Bentley,? D?rheimer says.
Must these iconic brands produce SUVs to survive? Not necessarily. But it?s a way to stay relevant, says Alexander Edwards, an analyst at Strategic Vision. And the SUV has broad appealjust mention the words ?Lamborghini SUV? in Moscow or Dubai and watch car buyers? eyes light up.
?Rather than betting that the world isn?t going to change in 20 years,? says Edwards, ?[the car companies] are looking forward and saying, ?This looks like a real thing that we as a company aren?t going to dictate but customers out there seem to be leaning toward.??
THE REVEAL
My own first experience with Lamborghini?s SUV was dramatic enough. Picture dusk at an abandoned warehouse on a Manhattan dock. A muscular man with a military haircut and an earpiece points me up a metal staircase toward a corridor flanked by velvet draperies.
At the end of the hall I surrender my iPhone and meekly pass through an airport-security-grade metal detector. A heavy in security-detail standard issue (black suit, black shirt) outlines my body with a wand.
Source: http://socialmedianewsalerts.blogspot.com/2012/07/automakers-new-lifeline-super-luxury.html
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