Sales of exotic cars in Europe are up slightly in the first three months of 2014, growing 5% after a similar 5% decline over the full year 2013. The compact sports car segment is down again as well, just 2%, while the Jaguar F-type is pushing sales of large sports cars up 13%.
The top of the exotics ranking is stable, with the Bentley Continental GT still in the lead, although the Ferrari 458 Italia is gaining ground, up 12% thanks to the “Speciale” version, compared to an increase of just 3% for the Continental GT.
The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is also up, despite being in run-out mode until the introduction of the AMG GT “Porsche 911-fighter”. It passes the Ferrari F12 which is down 40% compared to the first quarter of 2014 when it was just introduced and customer deliveries were at full steam.
In sixth place we find a new entrant, the Rolls Royce Wraith, a two-door version of the Ghost “small” sedan and already the best selling Rolls Royce of the moment.
And at the bottom of the chart we see the Bugatti Veyron, of which the last 50 cars will be sold worldwide this year, racking up two European sales, and after 0 registrations last year, the Dutch supercar-maker Spyker has finally sold another car again.
2014 will mark the battle of the hypercars, as deliveries of the Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and McLaren P1 will start. Production for worldwide markets will be limited to 499, 918 and 375 units respectively, so don’t look for them near the top of the charts.
| Exotic car segment | 2014-Q1 | 2013-Q1 | Change | |
| 1. | Bentley Continental GT/GTC | 455 | 441 | 3% |
| 2. | Ferrari 458 Italia | 388 | 346 | 12% |
| 3. | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG | 172 | 147 | 17% |
| 4. | Ferrari F12 | 109 | 183 | -40% |
| 5. | Aston Martin Vanquish | 103 | 136 | -24% |
| 6. | Rolls Royce Wraith | 83 | 0 | new |
| 7. | Aston Martin DBS | 75 | 70 | 7% |
| 8. | Lamborghini Aventador | 69 | 58 | 19% |
| 9. | Ferrari FF | 55 | 57 | -4% |
| 10. | Lamborghini Gallardo | 31 | 36 | -14% |
| 11. | Bugatti Veyron | 2 | 1 | 100% |
| 12. | Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano | 1 | 2 | -50% |
| 13. | Spyker | 1 | 0 | – |
| Segment total | 1.544 | 1.477 | 5% | |
Note: McLaren only publishes full-year MP4 sales for Europe, so are not included in these statistics.
As in the full year 2013, the large sports car segment is growing, but only thanks to the introduction of a completely new model, the Jaguar F-type. And as predicted, the F-type charges through the ranking into the second spot, although far behind the traditional leader, the Porsche 911. Surprisingly, the already relatively old Jaguar XK is also up, an amazing 31%. This could either be from the attention the F-type is drawing to Jaguar showrooms, or because of run-out pricing until it is replaced.
The Ferrari California has been passed by its Fiat-Group competitor, the Maserati GranCabrio, but the facelift and technical update with a turbocharged engine later this year will surely help the smallest Ferrari climb back up the ranking by the end of this year.
| Large sports car segment | 2014-Q1 | 2013-Q1 | Change | |
| 1. | Porsche 911 | 4.929 | 4.635 | 6% |
| 2. | Jaguar F-type | 1.411 | 373 | 278% |
| 3. | Mercedes-Benz SL | 1.082 | 1.323 | -18% |
| 4. | Jaguar XK | 659 | 503 | 31% |
| 5. | Aston Martin V8/V12 Vantage | 279 | 266 | 5% |
| 6. | Audi R8 | 275 | 396 | -31% |
| 7. | Maserati GranTurismo | 135 | 202 | -33% |
| 8. | Maserati GranCabrio | 87 | 96 | -9% |
| 9. | Ferrari California | 83 | 141 | -41% |
| Segment total | 8.940 | 7.935 | 13% | |
Note: Corvette and Nissan GT-R sales for Europe are not specified monthly, so are not included in these statistics.
As predicted at the end of 2013, the Audi TT has reclaimed the segment leadership from the Mercedes-Benz SLK thanks to run-out pricing of the outgoing model until the third generation TT reaches showrooms later this year. Surprisingly, the BMW Z4 has kept its sales stable to fend off the Porsche Boxster which came very close to the Z4 in the full year 2013 ranking.
The Mazda MX-5 has also been able to keep its sales relatively flat to leapfrog the Toyota GT86, after being outsold by a Japanese sports car for the first time in its history.
The Peugeot RCZ has held on to its third place despite sales down 17%, but a recent update should keep on the podium for the rest of the year.
The new entrant into the segment, the Alfa Romeo 4C is already outselling cars like the Nissan 370Z and Subaru BRZ in the first three months of sales, and it is set to overtake the Chevrolet Camaro by the end of this year as well.
| SPORTS CAR COMPACT | ||||
| 2014-Q1 | 2013-Q1 | Change | ||
| 1. | Audi TT | 3.974 | 2.997 | 33% |
| 2. | Mercedes-Benz SLK | 3.387 | 3.730 | -9% |
| 3. | Peugeot RCZ | 1.794 | 2.152 | -17% |
| 4. | BMW Z4 | 1.366 | 1.487 | -8% |
| 5. | Mazda MX-5 | 1.355 | 1.549 | -13% |
| 6. | Porsche Boxster | 1.245 | 1.622 | -23% |
| 7. | Toyota GT86 | 916 | 1.611 | -43% |
| 8. | Porsche Cayman | 739 | 481 | 54% |
| 9. | Chevrolet Camaro | 369 | 300 | 23% |
| 10. | Alfa Romeo 4C | 212 | 0 | new |
| 11. | Nissan 370Z | 199 | 200 | -1% |
| 12. | Subaru BRZ | 142 | 150 | -5% |
| 13. | Lotus Exige | 54 | 27 | 100% |
| 14. | Hyundai Genesis coupe | 36 | 85 | -58% |
| 15. | Lotus Elise | 33 | 43 | -23% |
| 16. | Lotus Evora | 22 | 31 | -29% |
| Segment total | 15.843 | 16.465 | -4% | |
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