In the first quarter of 2021, 4% fewer exotic cars were delivered to customers in in Europe, in a stable overall market. The large sports car segment even beats the overall market with an 8% gain, while the compacdt sports car segment continues to lose share with a 26% decline in deliveries.
Among exotic cars, Ferrari continues where it left off in 2020, with three of the top-4 nameplates. The Italian brand even returns to the top spot with the F8 taking more than a quarter of the segment sales. The Bentley Continental GT/GTC is down 43% on Q1 of last year and drops to #2. The Ferrari F12 Superfast holds on to its podium place with sales almost stable at -2%. The new Ferrari SF90 with its V8 hybrid powertrin lands at #4, just ahead of the Lamborghini Huracan, up 5%. Its larger sibling Lamborghini Aventador is also strong, up 1% in 8th place. The Aston Martin DB11 drops to 6th with sales down by almost half, while the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera is down 20% in 7th place. Last year’s #2, the Ferrari 488GTB, having been replaced by the F8, is down 80% but still outsells the Rolls Royce Wraith, up 80% to 27 sales. The latter’s convertible version Rolls Royce Dawn is down 32% and the Ferrari GTC4Lusso is down 60%, now being the oldest model in Ferrari’s current line-up.
2021-Q1 Exotic car sales Europe
| Exotic car segment | 2021-Q1 | 2020-Q1 | Change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | Ferrari F8 | 474 | 68 | 597% | 27,7% | 3,8% |
| 2 | Bentley Continental GT / GTC | 294 | 512 | -43% | 17,2% | 28,6% |
| 3 | Ferrari 812 Superfast | 220 | 225 | -2% | 12,9% | 12,6% |
| 4 | Ferrari SF90 Stradale | 161 | 0 | New | 9,4% | 0,0% |
| 5 | Lamborghini Huracan | 146 | 139 | 5% | 8,5% | 7,8% |
| 6 | Aston Martin DB11 | 97 | 187 | -48% | 5,7% | 10,5% |
| 7 | Aston Martin DBS Superleggera | 94 | 118 | -20% | 5,5% | 6,6% |
| 8 | Lamborghini Aventador | 86 | 85 | 1% | 5,0% | 4,8% |
| 9 | Ferrari 488 GTB | 73 | 367 | -80% | 4,3% | 20,5% |
| 10 | Rolls Royce Wraith | 27 | 15 | 80% | 1,6% | 0,8% |
| 11 | Rolls Royce Dawn | 19 | 28 | -32% | 1,1% | 1,6% |
| 12 | Ferrari GTC4Lusso | 18 | 45 | -60% | 1,1% | 2,5% |
| Segment total | 1.709 | 1.789 | -4% |
Large Sports car segment
The large sports car segment continues to outperform the market with sales up 8% in the first quarter of 2021. The Porsche 911 is up 17% and improves its share of the class to 59.7%, up from 55% in Q1 of 2020 but down from 60.6% from the 2020 full year. It sells over four and a half times as much as its nearest rival Jaguar F-Type, which is up 13% thanks to a facelift. That puts the F-Type ahead of the Mercedes-AMG GT, down 38% into third place. The roadster version of the GT will be renamed Mercedes-Benz SL as the next generation of the long-standing nameplate will arrive later this year. The current Mercedes-Benz SL is down 64% into 9th place. In fourth place we find the Toyota Supra with sales almost doubling on last year, taking 5.4% share of the class. The Ferrari Roma lands at #5, replacing its Spider version Ferrari Portofino which is down 88% into 10th place. The Audi R8 is up 19 and the Aston Martin Vantage is up 25%. Best performer of the class is the Lexus LC, up 167% into 8th place thanks to the addition of the convertible version. The BMW i8 is down 83% as it will be discontinued, as the Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio have already been. The Honda NSX sold just 1 unit in the first quarter of the year.
2021-Q1 large sports car sales EuropeCompact Sports car segment
| Large sports car segment | 2021-Q1 | 2020-Q1 | Change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | Porsche 911 | 4.017 | 3.424 | 17% | 59,7% | 55,0% |
| 2 | Jaguar F-type | 847 | 752 | 13% | 12,6% | 12,1% |
| 3 | Mercedes-AMG GT | 696 | 1.114 | -38% | 10,3% | 17,9% |
| 4 | Toyota Supra | 365 | 183 | 99% | 5,4% | 2,9% |
| 5 | Ferrari Roma | 249 | 0 | New | 3,7% | 0,0% |
| 6 | Audi R8 | 172 | 145 | 19% | 2,6% | 2,3% |
| 7 | Aston Martin V8/V12 Vantage | 145 | 116 | 25% | 2,2% | 1,9% |
| 8 | Lexus LC | 131 | 49 | 167% | 1,9% | 0,8% |
| 9 | Mercedes-Benz SL | 41 | 115 | -64% | 0,6% | 1,8% |
| 10 | Ferrari Portofino | 37 | 321 | -88% | 0,6% | 5,2% |
| 11 | BMW i8 | 24 | 143 | -83% | 0,4% | 2,3% |
| 12 | Honda NSX | 1 | 4 | -75% | 0,0% | 0,1% |
| Segment total | 6.725 | 6.226 | 8% |
In contrast with the relatively healthy large sports segment, the small sports car segment continues crashing down hard with 26% fewer deliveries in the first quarter of 2021, after plummeting 42% in 2020. The BMW Z4 holds on to its top spot and outperforms the segment with sales down 11%, while the 2019 leader Mazda MX-5 strongly recovers from a slow start of 2020 with sales more than doubling, as it moves back up into second place. The Porsche 718 is down just 6% and rejoins the podium, leapfrogging the Audi TT (-47%) and the Ford Mustang (-63%). The top-3 now holds 69% of the class, up from 59.8% last year. The Alpine A110 recovers from a difficult 2020 with sales up 45% to take a 5% share of the class, while the Lotus Elise is up 55% and the Lotus Exige is up 41%. The Japanese twins Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86 are down 41% and 92% respectively, with the former outselling its twin for the first time. In contrast to its fellow American muscle car Mustang, the Chevrolet Camaro is up 14% but its 25 sales for the quarter keep it a rare sight on European roads.
2021-Q1 small sports car sales Europe
| Compact sports car segment | 2021-Q1 | 2020-Q1 | Change | 2021 share | 2020 share | |
| 1 | BMW Z4 | 1.983 | 2.240 | -11% | 26,8% | 22,5% |
| 2 | Mazda MX-5 | 1.576 | 743 | 112% | 21,3% | 7,4% |
| 3 | Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman | 1.552 | 1.650 | -6% | 21,0% | 16,5% |
| 4 | Audi TT | 1.014 | 1.914 | -47% | 13,7% | 19,2% |
| 5 | Ford Mustang | 663 | 1.814 | -63% | 9,0% | 18,2% |
| 6 | Alpine A110 | 371 | 255 | 45% | 5,0% | 2,6% |
| 7 | Lotus Elise | 79 | 51 | 55% | 1,1% | 0,5% |
| 8 | Lotus Exige | 55 | 39 | 41% | 0,7% | 0,4% |
| 9 | Subaru BRZ | 47 | 79 | -41% | 0,6% | 0,8% |
| 10 | Chevrolet Camaro | 25 | 22 | 14% | 0,3% | 0,2% |
| 11 | Toyota GT86 | 15 | 193 | -92% | 0,2% | 1,9% |
| 12 | Lotus Evora | 12 | 12 | 0% | 0,2% | 0,1% |
| 13 | Nissan 370Z | 10 | 98 | -90% | 0,1% | 1,0% |
| Segment total | 7.402 | 9.976 | -26% |
Car sales statistics are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
Sources: Manufacturers, ANDC, JATO Dynamics.