zzzRecord sales of supercars at McLaren Automotive has helped the luxury British auto maker buck slumping demand for new vehicles in 2018.
The manufacturer of high-performance sports cars, costing as much as £1.75 million, released its annual figures on Monday showing global sales grew 43.9% to 4,806 in 2018, boosted by strong demand in China in particular.
The update comes as separate figures released today showed new car sales in Britain fell at their fastest rate since the 2008 global financial crisis last year.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) cited fears about diesel as a major factor for registrations dropping 6.8% to 2.37 million vehicles.
The industry organization, which is funded by the big European car makers, repeated its claim that Britain’s departure from the European Union risks the future of a sector that employs more than 850,000 people in the U.K.
But demand at the high end has been less affected.
In the U.K., privately-owned McLaren, part of the group that owns the Formula One team, said the domestic market for its cars remained strong, achieving 49.2% growth in sales year-over-year.
North America, which is the firm’s biggest single market accounting for a third of global sales, has now shifted 5,000 vehicles since sales started in 2011 and posted record growth last year. In Europe, sales rose 44.2%.
But the biggest leap, at 122.5%, was seen in China following the introduction of the 570S Spider and 720S. China now accounts for almost 7% of total global sales but McLaren, along with others, is exposed to a slowdown in consumer demand from the world’s second-largest economy.
Last week’s profit warning from Apple AAPL, -1.42% wiped huge chunks off the value of global luxury goods firms — Britain’s fashion chain Burberry BRBY, +0.09% sank 6% in a day last week.
New car sales in China are also being impacted by a growing secondhand market and changes to a government policy that gave a tax rebate for new car sales.
But McLaren chief executive Mike Flewitt, is upbeat. He said: “We now have greater control over our core component – the carbon fiber chassis at the heart of all our cars that gives them – and our customers - a unique performance edge.
“Our new MCTC facility [in Sheffield] ramps-up to full production later this year as we move under Track25 [McLaren’s expansion plan] to full hybrid for our sports cars and supercars by 2025.”
The SMMT figures show the biggest volume decline was seen in the diesel sector, down 29.6% in 2018.
Mike Hawes, SMMT CEO, said: “A second year of substantial decline is a major concern, as falling consumer confidence, confusing fiscal and policy messages and shortages due to regulatory changes have combined to create a highly turbulent market.
“The industry is facing ever-tougher environmental targets against a backdrop of political and economic uncertainty that is weakening demand. So these figures should act as a wake-up call for policy makers.”
http://carsecret.atspace.eu/blog/american-and-chinese-buyers-drive-growth-at-supercar-maker-mclaren/
No comments:
Post a Comment