NEW YORK, April 21, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US auto sales may be slowing, but
carmakers have high hopes for luxury vehicles, which are imbued with
increasingly sophisticated gadgetry and sex appeal to seduce a new generation
of millionaires.
Luxury car companies brought their “A” game to the New York International
Auto Show, which opened Friday with a mix of new models, some featuring
envelope-pushing technology and others pitched as green vehicles, to grab
attention of new customers who grew up with technology and are sensitive to
climate change.
In both cases, these are luxury models with price tags to match.
Mercedes-Benz’ new generation of sport-utility vehicles has voice command
and answers to “Hey Mercedes” as its artificial intelligence programs adapt
to its user’s habits.
That feature brings to life something like the experience from the 1980s
hit television show “Knight Rider” when David Hasselhoff’s character
addressed his vehicle as “KITT.”
“Voice recognition is absolutely something customers want,” said Dietmar
Exler, chief executive of Mercedes-Benz USA.
“It’s much more convenient. The cars can read your emails or texts and you
don’t need to take your hands from the steering wheel,” he added. “It’s
safer. You don’t look down and try to find something, you can just say it and
you control it.”
Although many millennials still face heavy college loans, the US economy
is also churning out adults who make seven figures and up who were born in
the 1980s and 90s.
So far this month, there have been successful initial public offerings by
tech companies Lyft, Pinterest and Zoom, all led by (now-rich) millennials.
And more youth-led ventures are expected to go public soon, including Uber.
– Going green –
Eyeing this rarified niche population, the Italian company Pininfarina
stands out. The company introduced its “Battista” electric, zero-emission
vehicle at an art gallery in Chelsea, the trendy Manhattan district.
The sleek vehicle has 1,900 horse power and can sprint to 60 miles per
hour in less than two seconds. The price? $2.27 million!
A future prospect in this ultra-expensive, ultra-environmentally friendly
category is the Genesis Mint, which was shown as a concept car by Hyundai.
“The wealthy clients want just the best of the best,” said Brian Miller, a
New York dealer for luxury brands, including Rolls Royce, Ferrari and
Bugatti, whose latest offering is the ultra-powerful Chiron sports car.
Porsche’s 911 Speedster, which also boasts dynamic drive, plays on the
lure of exclusivity. Fewer than 2,000 versions of the car will be produced
worldwide.
Sales for the German luxury carmaker rose 7.5 percent in the first quarter
of 2019 even as the overall market sagged.
“It’s absolutely healthy and things are very positive for us,” a Porsche
spokesperson said. “Our sales are growing.”
And Nissan plans to produce just 50 of its GT-R 50, the car used in the
action film saga, “The Fast and the Furious.”
“Every detail is made by hand,” said Nissan’s global sports car program
director Bob Laishley.
All the materials on the car are authentic. “If it looks like carbon, it
is carbon. It’s the real deal; it’s not synthetic.”
Mercedes-Benz’s Exler sees three “dimensions” in the drive for luxury
perfection: design, driver experience and technology.
“All three dimensions are becoming more and more important for the overall
driver experience,” he said. “It’s about the whole package.”
In 2018, sales of luxury cars dipped 0.3 percent to just over 2 million in
the United States, a contrast to the 0.6 percent gain in overall US sales.
But some experts think that trend will reverse in 2019, with the richest
Americans seen as the biggest winners of US tax cuts signed into law in 2017
by President Donald Trump.