THE 85th Geneva Motor Show got under way (3 March) with a display of muscle-flexing from the world’s best-known ultra-luxury and high performance brands as they look to capture the growing opportunities that exist from the growing ranks of the global super-rich.
Rise of super rich fuels ultra premium trend
- The Geneva Motor Show began with a display of vehicles to cater for the tastes of the super-rich as the ultra-premium market looks to diversify product offerings and business strategies and exploit this new paradigm for high levels of individual wealth.
- The ultra-premium reveals in Geneva can be divided up into the supercar/super sports car categories and different takes on luxury models aimed at providing the maximum comfort, opulence and luxury for those travelling. Aston Martin offered an SUV concept and Rolls Royce showed the potential for greater individual customization for its customer base.
- With the global numbers of high net worth individuals set to grow exponentially as a result of economic growth in China, the explosion of successful global tech companies and the ongoing economic recovery in the US, ultra-premium carmakers are looking to explore ways of growing their product offerings, and thus their bottom lines, in this most potentially profitable of segments. IHS Automotive forecasts that sales of ultra-premium brand sales will almost triple between 2010 and 2020.
The vehicles on display tended to fall into two categories:
- those biased towards comfort and opulent luxury, and
- those supercars and super sports cars that are increasingly utilizing race car technology in order to provide their owners the most vivid possible driving experience.
This is our view of the Geneva Motor Show emerging trends.
Mercedes-Maybach S 600 Pullman
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Mercedes-Benz chose to use a Beatles tribute band to fanfare the European introduction of the new Mercedes-Maybach S 600 Pullman in a reference to the fact that Beatle John Lennon was one of the many celebrity owners of the Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman in the 1960s. The new Pullman is the range-topping model from the new Mercedes-Maybach nameplate that resurrects the Maybach nameplate as an ultra-premium sub-brand. The model is available in various interior trims with a high level of specialization and also offers a four-seat face-to-face rear seating arrangement as provided by a passenger car which is 6.5 meters in length. The Pullman uses a 530-bhp variant of Mercedes-Benz’s 5.5-litre V-12 which also produces 830 Nm of torque.
Aston Martin DBX Concept
The Aston Martin DBX concept shows that ultra-premium automotive brands are looking at stretching their brand identities to include new products and segments, in order to move into new market space and create models that can generate even bigger margins. As well as being the first sport utility vehicle (SUV)-crossover type vehicle to wear the Aston Martin badge, it is also the first all-electric Aston Martin concept.
Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 Concept
The new concept from Bentley is an attempt at a smaller, lighter and sportier car from the brand that is aimed at corresponding models from Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren. It is the first bespoke two-seater design that Bentley has attempted in the modern era and if it makes production, would be aimed at the Aston Martin Vantage, Ferrari California T and the forthcoming entry-level McLaren. The concept is powered by a hybrid powertrain but any production model would most likely be powered by the 4.0-litre V-8 twin turbocharged gasoline (petrol) unit seen in the current Continental.
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