LUXURY CAR SALES IN AMERICA - NUMBERS

"It is wrong to say certain segments of the market are immune to economic downturns in the market, as far as we're concerned." Who said it?

That'd be a Bentley vice-president, Geoff Dowding, who happens to be the worldwide operations manager for Volkswagen-owned Bentley as well. For quite some time, luxury vehicle sales were immune to the current economic downturn that displayed American sales statistics that can be seen here, here, and here.

Such a anti-trend fad was bound to end. Some Numbers are beginning to reveal the effect of economic downturns on American luxury car sales. Those Numbers are below.

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27.9 - percentage drop in American Bentley sales over the first half of 2008 compared with the first half of 2007 when 2,527 Bentleys were sold

20,268 - total sales of the Lexus LS in the United States during the first six months of 2007; 7,248 more than in the first half of '08

25.7 - percentage sales drop in America for the Mercedes-Benz-owned Maybach brand over the first six months of this year

11,216 - total sales of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class over the first half of 2008; 3,854 fewer than the same period of 2007

28.6 - percentage drop in Porsche 911 sales through July of this year, down from 8,021 in 2007.5 to 5,724 during the first half of this year

MAYBACH LANDAULET PRICED

As for me, I'll just walk. Thanks very much, Maybach; but if I want "acres of sky above me", I don't need to spend $1,350,000 to do so.

Granted, my legs have many hundreds less horsepower than can be found under the hood of your vehicles. True, in a lifetime of purchases I'll never own as much leather as required for one Maybach interior. Not only that, my legs have never garnered the status with which the Maybach badge (unknown though it may still be) battles in the ultra-luxury sector. 

How-flippin'-ever, this is one of the ugliest cars on the planet. Weeks ago, GoodCarBadCar labelled it as 'puketastic' and 'vomit-worthy'. Autoblog suggests that it's for 'eccentric' buyers only - the folks that would be called crazy if they were poor.

Justifying $1million+ price tags for a Lamborghini Reventon or the Bugatti Veyron is one thing. But this? This behemoth? Put it this way: if my daughter were a Corvette convertible or 911 Turbo or any other popular and high-class girl, there's no way I'd ever let her go out on a Friday night with the Maybach Landaulet. The Landaulet is never going to take a lady out for the evening unless its friends (the Landaulet has friends?) set them up on a blind date. This is the kind of car other cars avoid. With angst. 

MAYBACH LANDAULET

Vomit-worthy.  Puketastic.  The 612bhp Maybach Landaulet was revealed some time ago, but I just took a look at this overhead shot of a white Landaulet and nearly lost my lunch.  There's something(s) just very, truly, really, awfully wrong about the existence of a car like this.  

Care for some genuine German class?  Follow this link and pay particular attention to numbers 5 and 1.