LexFather

Its always fun to read other forums and the blogs/comments on auto sites b/c you really get a true understanding of how the gene pool could you some chlorine. If you think political debates have some people with Dinosaur brains, read some auto comments after an article is posted at a news site. Its truly amazing how either blind people are, completely hateful and totally clueless.

I begin there b/c there are a lot of people still claiming and boldly predicting luxury is dead and dying and supercars are also dying and stupider than ever. The LFA more than any other supercar, seems to really bring people out that will find any reason to hate something exotic, incredible and relentless. They say there is no market for supercars, it doesn't make money and neither does Bugatti. Lambo will be sold soon and Ferrari will have to start selling 20k saloons. Aston Martin seems to think so too, building a car off the Toyota IQ of all things.

On top of that, there are people (usually who have never owned a luxury car, don't know anyone with a luxury car and their definition of luxury is a loaded EX mainstram model or so) who are saying that luxury is dead. The V-8 is old and dead. Leather is stupid. Who needs RWD. Who needs LEDs. Who needs reclining seats? Who needs 50 choices of wood and leather? Oh its stupid and wasteful and people will hate luxury and they do now.

Now I cannot lie and most of us will admit that "flashy" is pretty much out and "subdued" is in vogue. However that doesn't mean slit your wrists and lets all drive Chevy Volts in silver or beige(like the Government wants us to, to save us from ourselves )

I last looked at the recession in the 1990s....Now I wasn't old enough to have this same conversation then so please bare with me for reading history. Guess what launched during this "recession"
Lexus, Infiniti, Acura NSX
Ferrari revamped its lineup..355 came, F50, 456
Ford redid its Mustang, Explorer
McLaren sold the million dollar F1
Benz bought AMG and invested heavily in it
BMW sold its first M3 sedan and the M5 evolved, the 8 series was born
Lambo brought us the Diablo
Nissan kept building GTRs
etc etc etc

You see kiddies, the world didn't end. If anything, we got crazier. THE SUV CRAZE BEGAN IN A RECESSION. Yup, we dumped cars for 10 MPG Explorer's, Grand Cherokee's, Range Rovers etc.... when times were not as good as before.

Look who didn't invest....GM...and look where they are today....they gave up on the electric car, the bold EV1...TODAY if they had kept going, it would have been a true leader here. Now Nissan will mass produce an electric car.

Isuzu is another example of idiotic management. They had a popular SUV lineup and did nothing with it for years and didn't evolve fast enough. They entered dumbass niches (I can't even name it it sold so bad) no one wanted.

Let me take you back before I was born, to the 1970s...OH SNAP, FOR SURe the world was supposed to end them. The OIL EMBARGO happened and OMG, people were going to walk and ride goats and donkeys to work...

WRONG, WRONG WRONG....
Guess what launched during the recession
The ICONIC Porsche Turbo 911
Lambo Countach
BMW M1 was planned, they build a turbo 7 series and 2002
Benz didn't just sell 4 cylinders, they kept selling those guzzlers
Lotus brought the Espirit
Ferrari continued to sell exotics
Jaguar launched a new XJ

Etc etc.....

So you see any carmaker today using the economy as a scapegoat and blaming outside factors for giving up, is completely full of it. History has showed us that some of the BEST and most AMAZING vehicles came during bad times. The companies that were lost, backtracked, or had no focus suffered immensely as the economy recovered. Those that soldiered onwards, reaped the benefits...

WE reaped the benefits....imagine if Ferrari, BMW, Benz and Porsche "blamed the economy" in the 1970s and decided to build ONLY fuel efficient cars. Imagine they were perplexed with what to offer consumers and where they stood as brands.

Let me go back to the list of some of the amazing vehicles launched during the last economic ****hole.

Lexus, Infiniti, Acura NSX
Ferrari revamped its lineup..355 came, F50, 456
Ford redid its Mustang, Explorer
McLaren sold the million dollar F1
Benz bought AMG and invested heavily in it
BMW sold its first M3 sedan and the M5 evolved, the 8 series was born
Lambo brought us the Diablo
Nissan kept building GTRs

So lets go to those that were focused in the early 1989s, during a recession, clear and continued to invest
Lexus-today, top selling luxury brand in America, considered Tier 1, LFA
NSX-considered on of the greatest cars ever made
Ferrari-lineup has never been bolder and stronger and better selling
Ford-only American brand not govt owned..posting profits..
McLaren-launching a new supercar and 2 more to follow
Benz-AMG lineup is tremendous and many many choices
BMW-M lineup is tremendous and evolved to many choices
Lambo-has Gallardo, Murchialago, Reventon
Nissan-new GTR is here, 370Z, etc

So no don't go spend all your money on strippers and beer. Luxury cars are going to get better than ever, supercars better than ever and the companies that continue to move forward will offer you vehicles truly amazing. Those that gave up and blamed everything but themselves will become "also rans".

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well i guess i am a bit more extreme. i always think the real rich people, there is no such thing as a recession to them. there is only period of mild growth. so even during "our" recessions, true luxury cars and exotic cars will continue to grow and it's actually a good time coz' "cost" is lower smoewhat.

at the same time, i think it's the mainstream luxury cars that can get affected (entry or mid-level luxury) during recessions, so i just hope companies in general can "sustain" long enough to ride out

Yay-Z

Totally agree, ultra luxury buyers don't have recessions.

But brands such as benz and bmw although luxurious,no longer really have "luxurious" customers due to their subsidized leases and vehicles aimed towards a greater market share.

This in-turn leads to them being susceptible to recessions they probably didn't feel before

CDNROCKIES

+1

I totally agree with you Henry. The truly rich people that I know are actually spending money right now. They're taking advantage of low markets and good opportunities.

LIMS407

great article...this recession is different because of real estate and mortgage..back when people said economy was bad but still lived in their homes but now people live in the streets...even for me, investing in real estates put me back at least ten years...like romini said mega rich people are not affected by it but people in the middle class def needs to start over what they build over the years, which will decrease the market for mainstream luxury cars....

IS-SV

I'm not worried about it at all.

Nextourer

well said. The people who say luxury cars are dead are probably the same people who like flashy things and would buy something flashy to show everyone they've made it big. The new luxury is now subdued. It's learning how to continue living your life without anyone else sneering or finding out ways to get money from you in poor economic times.

AD_SC3

iTrader: (1)

LoL it does not matter. The world is going to end in 2012

I8ABMR

just saw the movie tonight and it was intense.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yup, i am with you. problem with some luxury brands is that they are trying to get more "mainstream" due to a lot of reasons, and that's never a good sign imho. luxury a lot of times should be somewhat exclusive, but when it gets to mainstream, problem is it starts to ride with economy a lot...

indeed. rich people actually love time like these now coz' everything is so "cheap" to them and they invest a lot for great returns over time

people like me suffer big time coz' we have less return to begin with and we still can't afford things, haha

LexFather

Great points Henry and everyone....