Page 12 - Rolls Royce, Bentley Mihi Exculta Magazine (Made for Me) - Issue 5, designed and produced by Connell Marketing Associates, UK

MARKETS LUXURY
SECTOR
Asmall up-turn in total high FACTS
luxury sector (HLS) sales dur-
ing the last quarter of 1997 Rolls-Royce & Bentley enjoy
meant that the world-wide HLS ended
only 8.4% down on 1996 figures. That third successive year of growth
is in sharp contrast to Rolls-Royce and
Bentley which continued to out-per-
form the market to record retail sales
15% up over the previous year.

Ferrari and Aston Martin were the
only other HLS manufacturers to
achieve growth during 1997. Ferrari
was up 8% and Aston Martin, fuelled by
the DB7 and DB7 Volante introductions,
up 16%.

By contrast, Mercedes HLS sales
were down 2%, and Porsche, awaiting
the impact of the new 911, was down
16%. BMW 750 and 8-Series sales were
down 13%.

This is the third consecutive year
of growth for Rolls-Royce and Bentley
and the strong finish to the year meant
that we increased our share of the world
HLS from 2.9% to 3.7%. However, vari-
ation between individual markets con-
tinues to be marked: compare 24% in
the UK with 0.6% in Germany. A simi-
larly extreme range of share perform-
ances is echoed by individual dealers
within specific markets.

The last three years of market share
growth has already demonstrated the
potential for Roll-Royce and Bentley
franchise holders. The arrival in 1998
of only the ninth completely new Rolls-
Royce in the company’s history should
provide a very significant further oppor-
tunity to exploit our customers’ contin-
ued attachment to the marque as well
as to open the door to many converts. ❖

12 MIHI EXCULTA - April 1998