The Sunday Business Post - Luxury Car Sales

AJ!

In The Sunday Business Post today...

Well-heeled motorists splash out on supercars

Wealthy motorists are taking delivery of a record number of supercars costing up to €500,000 each, as the boom in consumer spending continues.

Trevor Musgrave, sales director with Des Cullen, the Dublin luxury car dealer said it had 40 per cent more orders than this time last year. Buyers are purchasing Bentleys, Ferraris, Porsches, Aston Martins, Maseratis and specialist Mercedes and Range Rovers.

It's shaping up to be a very good year siad Musgrave who added that the Bentley Continental GTC and Ferrari 599 were proving popular with Irish buyers. Des Cullen has orders for five Bentley Continentals which cost up to €420,000 each.

Many buyers are "taking a step up" from cars such as the Aston Martin DB9 and Ferrari 430, which cost about €300,000, accoring to Musgrave. "Aston Martin has slowed down and Bentley is making a comeback" he said.

Musgrave has orders for 14 Porsche 911's, including several 911 Turbo convertibles. Five people have placed orders for Maseratis, which are "selling well" despite costing €180,000 each.

The buyers include former Mercedes drivers who "want something different, something individual", because of the increasing popularity of Mercedes, said Musgrave. Des Cullen has received one order for a Lamborghini, costing up to €350,000.

The firm has the dealership for the Mercedes Brabus range, a range of "specialist S-class" Mercedes, costing between €160,000 and €400,000 each. It expected to sell an initial allocation of 20 cars this year but Musgrave expects all 20 to be sold by March.

The firm has about 15 orders for so-called Project Khan Range Rovers, which cost between €150,000 and €170,000 each. The most eagerly awaited new car is the Bentley Azure which will cost about €600,000.

Musgrave sid the supercar buyers came from "right across the board" but would not comment on their identities.

"It is not just property developers - they come from banking and all different sectors," he said "It seems that everyone is doing well."

mike65

Hope they all crash! There was a news story earlier in the week about how Segment B car sales have fallen by 50% in the last 6 years.

Mike.

Volvoboy

The buyers include former Mercedes drivers who "want something different, something individual"

Personally if i had that kind of money to spend on a car i would'nt be buying NEW top-end cars i'd be restoring a top end car from 15-30 years ago. all they are is overdevopled plastic boxes, that are devopled for race tracks and irish roads are far from it, pointless and a waste of money for the sake of to be seen.


-VB-

Stephen

Oh I dunno, if i was ****ting money I could be persuaded to part with some of it for a Lambo Murcielago

Seth Brundle

Volvoboy wrote:

pointless and a waste of money for the sake of to be seen.

Thats all it is - they are buying the name and do not recognise the significance of the pedigree!
How many of these cars are tracked - driven they way they were designed for!

ando

Does anyone else become depressed after reading that or is it just me

peasant

one thing makes me wonder though ....do these people actually get to test drive whatever they order ?

Imagine spending hundreds of thousand for some flashy sportscar out of the catalog only to find on delivery that your fleshy bulk (for example:D ) doesn't even fit behind (or under) the steering wheel comfortably.

I don't see that many "ex-demo" super-flash cars for sale.

drdre

ando wrote:

Does anyone else become depressed after reading that or is it just me

Its not just you. Des cullen is going to make a mint this year from a huge amount of luxury car sales. He is the only good/well known luxury car garage in ireland.He should make a proper show room as it seems dodgy parking the cars in a underground carpark in a office block

hi5

drdre wrote:

Its not just you. Des cullen is going to make a mint this year from a huge amount of luxury car sales. He is the only good/well known luxury car garage in ireland.He should make a proper show room as it seems dodgy parking the cars in a underground carpark in a office block

Makes you wonder why there are no official dealers for these cars,being the richest country in the world and all that,do the manufactures know somthing about the future of our economy that we dont know?
Does Des Cullen (or the country for that matter)have the trained mechanics,the diagnostic machines and offer the high standard of customer service required for these cars?
Still I take my hat off to him,he seen a market,and went for it.
Just remember that 35 year mortgage for that 1 bedroom,20 miles from Dublin is paying for those Bentleys,so enjoy looking at them ,you paid for them;) .

AJ!

Des Cullen is the only established dealer for marques like Ferrari and Bentley but that's all going to change with the arrival of Charles Hurst later this year. Hurst is the official dealer for Aston Martin, Bentley and Ferrari in Northern Ireland.

Luxury Brands Come To Dublin

colm_mcm

jeez a bit of competition is in order. Cullen's prices are ridiculous.

drdre

Yeah competition should be good when hurst comes to ireland. They should be here soon as i know someone who purchased a db9 from them and the manager was telling him about coming to dublin.

Does des cullen service the cars he sells. He would be charging ridiculous amounts for a ferrari service:eek:

Guy:Incognito

The Sunday Business Post wrote:

Musgrave sid the supercar buyers came from "right across the board" but would not comment on their identities.[/B]

I'm guessing the "right across the board" doesnt include us average joe plumbers, shop assistants, dole recipients etc. More like "top of the board"

drdre wrote:

Does des cullen service the cars he sells. He would be charging ridiculous amounts for a ferrari service:eek:

Probably just uses Fiat parts.:)

galwaytt

go to google.ie & type in Des Cullen Cars and the first thing you get, is Des Cullen Cars. Hyundai dealership.

Oh yes, nothing like projecting the right image, LOL !

drdre

galwaytt wrote:

go to google.ie & type in Des Cullen Cars and the first thing you get, is Des Cullen Cars. Hyundai dealership.

Oh yes, nothing like projecting the right image, LOL !

i donot think he sells hyundai cars anymore. theres more money in high end cars. He is the agent for Project Kahn now.

galwaytt

AJ! wrote:

Des Cullen is the only established dealer for marques like Ferrari and Bentley but that's all going to change with the arrival of Charles Hurst later this year. Hurst is the official dealer for Aston Martin, Bentley and Ferrari in Northern Ireland.

Luxury Brands Come To Dublin

I dunno, I don't see him list on any of those mfrs' sites as a dealer at all. He's what's known as an 'independant dealer '.

And, drdre he's not the only one - Cunningham Higgins in Galway sell similar exotica, and do it very well, and have a proper showroom/storage facility as well. Indeed, they have a really, really nice 456GTA in there at the mo.....only 31k miles and, surprise surprise - it's NOT red!! Ok, it is on the inside - the leather, that is..........sigh........

They put two 07 997's on the road last week - Carrera and a Turbo.........and the Bentley GTC has 'sold' on it too:eek:

JohnCleary

Yup, GalwayTT is right, Cunningham Higgins have sold my neighbours quite a few nice cars.

Some of them being

SLK 500 AMG
CLK (Or S, can't remember - tis a 5 door) 550 AMG ... Sweet machine, got brought to my Debs in it

Few other serious machines! Oh i'd love to rob all my neighbours, worst of all theyre nice people

unkel

ando wrote:

Does anyone else become depressed after reading that or is it just me

I love those people. I just think it's great they're splashing out on expensive motors

Up till now I just had to wait 7 years to buy a top-of-the-range €150k S-class or 7-series for €10k. If this trend continues, in the near future I could get a €500k Rolls-Royce for €3 after 2 years

AJ!

galwaytt wrote:

I dunno, I don't see him list on any of those mfrs' sites as a dealer at all. He's what's known as an 'independant dealer '

You're right but I meant Cullen was the only established dealer for marques like Bentley and Ferrari, even though he isn't an official dealer.

Richford Motorcars and Classic and Sportscar are the main competitors with Cullen. Richford sold the SLR a few weeks ago and in less than a year they have sold several Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche.

Still though, you can bet that Richford or Classic didn't recieve orders for 14 Porsche 911's or 20 Brabus Mercs.

lomb

rich are gettting richer, property continues to rise and if you have '20 units' whats 1 unit for a top of the line sports car;)
i think it possibly is a waste but then again i wouldnt say no to a new sl600 v12 love the sleek lines and the v12 says it all..
however short of going mad i think i might buy a mid seventies or late nineties old shell sl, i think older cars have alot of class that the new ones just dont have.

ciarsd

AJ! wrote:

Richford Motorcars and Classic and Sportscar are the main competitors with Cullen. Richford sold the SLR a few weeks ago and in less than a year they have sold several Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche.

Still though, you can bet that Richford or Classic didn't recieve orders for 14 Porsche 911's or 20 Brabus Mercs.

Are these two companies real dealers? I thought that they don't own the stock, the current car owner does and the likes of Richford facilitate them & their sale with a nice showroom and a salesman, for a fee


I suppose there is more comfort and feeling of security with buying high value goods, like these cars, from an established location - something fairly permanent.. and not privately with no sort of comeback