More from the recession front lines: Even luxury car sales are declining
Alas, economic hard times are even hitting luxury car manufacturers and sales, according to an online article I read recently at a Tampa Bay area newspaper website. (You remember newspapers, don’t you? Those large pieces of paper with lots of words on them that many of us used to read for daily and weekly news in pre-Internet days? You do remember, don’t you??)
Apparently Rolls Royce is doing best in that area, only dropping from 37 sales in February 2008 to 36 in 2009. Alas, Ferrari sales declined for the same months from 135 to 90, and Lamborghini went down from 84 to 70. All that makes you wonder, though, have Ferrari parts or Lamborghini parts increased in sales over the last year as owners focus on repair and maintenance so they can make do and hang on to their aging vehicles, rather than replacing them? No word on that.
I know you can make a case that the “rich” or “super rich” suffer during economic times just as the rest of us do. After all, to the man or woman who’s accustomed to living on, say, $1.7 million annual income it would be a radical cutback to make a go of it on $975,000. (And I’m only half sarcastic about that. Really.)
I mean, wow, how many Rolls or Bentleys can you possibly buy and maintain if you’re facing such a hit in income?? Hard times are upon us all.