Market Insight: Sportscar boom

AS AUSTRALIA and the world face turbulence in the economy, with soaring real estate prices, interest rates and fuel costs driving inflation and rising inequality against a dystopian backdrop of wars and climate change, there is only one thing to do if you have the means: Buy a new sportscar.

That is what more Australians are doing, as the sales for the first three quarters of 2023 from auto industry statistician VFACTS show.

Sportscar sales across all three price brackets are up 37.7 per cent (from 6539 units to 9007) to the end of September over the same period last year, in a vehicle market that rose 10.9 per cent overall in the same period.

The 2023 result over nine months already exceeds last year’s annual tally. Against a backdrop of a steady decline in sportscar sales since 2017, this culminated in 8745 sold last year.

Sportscars are divided into three price segments in VFACTS reporting: up to $80K; $80K-$200K and more than $200K. Of these, the most affordable category made the biggest gains this year at 56.6 per cent, while the $80K-$200K bracket is up 18.7 and the more than $200K segment has seen a 14.9 per cent rise.

This solid sales increase in 2023 comes despite 10 sportscars out of 38 available model lines coming to a sales halt last year.

While only a handful were delivered during their last sales year (a total of 87 units between them), these were well-regarded and relatively popular sportscars such as the Alfa Romeo 4C, Alpine A110, Audi R8, Lexus RC and Nissan GT-R. Meanwhile, Lotus is finished with Elise and Exige, discontinued last year (in anticipation of the Emira and upcoming electrified models) and Rolls Royce has discontinued the Dawn.

Some of the models above, such as the Alpine A110, Audi R8 and Nissan GT-R were discontinued because they did not meet stricter incoming ADR side impact safety rules.

The shared sports coupes from Subaru and Toyota, the BRZ and GR86, have seen a big lift in sales in 2023 on the back of second-generation models arriving last year. The Toyota is up 758.1 per cent, to 798 sales. Meanwhile the new Subaru BRZ – on sale since January 2022, a full 10 months longer than its new Toyota cousin – is up 476 units or 58.8 per cent, to 1286 units YTD.

BMW’s 2 Series, with a new-generation range launching in 2021, is up 328 cars (79.8 per cent) to 739 units.

The largest volume seller is the evergreen Ford Mustang, down slightly on last year with 1446 sales in 2023 compared with 1457 in the same period in 2022. An new-generation Mustang arrives in Australia next year.

One of the most aspirational sportscar brands, Porsche, has seen mixed results among its coupe and convertible lines.

The Boxster and Cayman are up 39 and 123 per cent respectively, despite significant price increases applied to MY23 cars, and incoming MY24 models also posting large price increases.

Meanwhile the 911 – with current 992 series models released during the COVID-19 pandemic – is down just seven cars or 1.6 per cent.

Porsche Cars Australia spokesperson Alexis Truscott told GoAuto that, while demand for all models has been high, describing the anomaly as “a fluctuation in retail deliveries due to supply”.

“We've been working to support new and existing customers to secure their desired models as quickly as possible.”

It is worth noting that the 911 is by far the most popular model in the $200K-plus segment, with its 432 units sold this year blitzing any other single model in terms of sales volume in the category.

As for the brands known almost exclusively for their supercars, it’s all good news. Ferrari has sold 28 more cars this year, to 172 YTD (up 19.4 per cent), while Lamborghini is up significantly – 138 per cent – from 47 sales last year to 112 this year and McLaren has sold 30 more cars this year (71 YTD).

Meanwhile, British brand Aston Martin saw seven fewer customers this year with 55 sales YTD, and passion for Italian brand Maserati has cooled slightly with 18 sales versus 22 for the same period last year.