Top 50

[Stefan Ertler 1]

Found this on the website of the German Sport Auto magazine

Thought I share it with you as it has some very astonishing facts

In 2010 the German car registration office recorded 2.92 million new cars

46305 of them were sports cars.(as defined by the office)

This is a increase of 22 % in this segment and 1.6% of all new registered cars

Below are some selected models with ranking and numbers of cars registered i.e. sold as new last year

Don't really have to emphasise that I was gobsmacked on the one or other figure.

Never thought we'd have that many posh people in this country

Nevertheless it's a good indication of where Lotus can be, providing they hit the right nerve with the new models as the money is there.

• Rank 49, Chrysler Crossfire 1 car
• Rank 48, Ferrar F 550/ F575 Maranello 1 car each
• Rank 46, Dodge Viper 2 cars
• Rank 44, Lotus Europa 4 cars (who would have guessed)
• Rank 43, Morgan Aero 8 8 cars
• Rank 41 Ferrari 612 11 cars
• Rank 40, Lamborghini Murciellago 13 cars (WOW)
• Rank 38 Lotus Evora 20 cars
• Rank 36 Ferrari 599 29 cars
• Rank 35 Ford Mustang 36 cars
• Rank 33 Lotus Exige 38 cars
• Rank 32, Aston Martin Vantage V12 46 cars
• Rank 29, Ferrari 599 GTB 47 cars
• Rank 28, Aston Martin DBS 69 cars
• Rank 27, Aston Martin Rapide 71 cars
• Rank 26, Ferrari F 430 73 cars
• Rank 25, Aston Martin DB9 83 cars
• Rank 24, Lotus Elise 84 cars
• Rank 23 Lamborghini Gallardo 86 cars
• Rank 20, Morgan 4/4 109 cars
• Rank 18, Aston Martin Vantage V8 168 cars
• Rank 17, Ferrari 458 230 cars (this really knocked me out)
• Rank 16, Maserati Granturismo 243 cars
• Rank 15, Ferrari California 271 cars
• Rank 11, Audi R8 693 cars
• Rank 10, Mercedes SLS AMG 709 cars
• Rank 6, Porsche Boxter / Cayman 2135 cars
• Rank 3, Porsche 911 5778 cars (still the backbone )
• Rank 2, BMW Z4 6178 cars
• Rank 1, Mercedes E class coupe 13298 cars (don't really think this should be in here)

[USAndretti42 311]

Surprised they have sold so many Lagonda Rapides there too. Morgan 4/4 sells better than I would have expected but it's going to be hard to wean them off the German cars,

[mayevora 1,255]

Nearly 700 R8's!

Could almost call that common now then. Nice car but not exactly what you'd call rare anymore.

Good Lotus figures.

[Stefan Ertler 1]

Yes, It is very interesting to see how strong Aston Martin has become here in this country. I am sure the fact that Dr. Bez (former Porsche) has control over the company and the quality of the cars played a major role in the acceptance here in Germany. And looking at the Rapide sales, there really is a market for a Lotus Eterne !People are willing to pay for quality, indeed, but it must be proven. (and this takes time)With all the specialist staff Lotus has employed recently, I think they have a excellent chance to successfully place their new cars on the German market.Of course you will never really chase off the top dogs like Porsche and Mercedes, Lotus can at least nick sales from Aston and Ferrari, who are surprisingly high in the sales ranks.

Whaddaya think ??

Stefan

PS Ian, I also wouldn't want a R8, nice machine but too many around these days

Edited January 13, 2011 by Fandango

[mangel 0]

Are some of these not imports registered into Germany?

I only ask as Ferrari no longer produce the 550/575!!

Surprised the California is as high as it is on the list!!

[The Veg 0]

I think that the figures are indicative of the recent trend for wealth to be very much upwardly accumulated, more so than at any time since 1928. While different countries have different legal environs for finance, I'm sure the trend is roughly the same everywhere. The bad economy isn't so much affecting the upper end, as at least in USA Wall Street has more than recovered, meaning that the 'paper millionaires' are racking it up at a record pace (and since money is highly international...). Last year USA's wealthiest 1% took home *23%* of of the income! Right now is the best time in history to be producing ultra-high-end cars. I'd love to see my country's figures for such vehicles- they'd surely make anybody's head spin!

[Stefan Ertler 1]

Toby

Don't really know why the 2 Fezza Models are listed ?

Maybe they were just not registered so far at all and someone bought it and put a licence plate on it. Here is the link to the sport auto, if you fancy you can look at the other ranks (all with pictures of the cars)Just click on >weiter< located on the right top corner of the lambo photo

http://www.sportauto...es-3291067.html

Just found another interesting article

The readers of Sport Auto voted on the sportiest car of the year in various categories defined by type and price for 2010.

Lotus did exceptionally well!

For instance the category Sport Coupes up to 50000€ was won by the Exige S with 34% of the votes

In the same category for cars up to 100.000 €, the Evora came 2nd with 12,8% of the votes.

The Elise came in first in the category Sport Cabrios with 29 % of the votes.

Same category for cars up to 60.000 €, the Elise SC came in 3rd.

Lotus sponsored a Evora for first prize raffeled off amongst all readers who entered the pollIt shows me that in Germany Lotus as a brand and it's cars are well set in peoples perception

Edited January 13, 2011 by USAndretti42
Tidied font

[[email protected] 0]

• Rank 49, Chrysler Crossfire 1 car

So there is only one hairdresser in all of Germany?

[Mark Blanchard 1,656]

Why so few Evora's sold? Considering it's still a relatively new car and universally admired, only 20 cars sold.

[Stefan Ertler 1]

Mark

I think this lies in the fact that many people are waiting for the return of the Esprit. I predict a figure of around 100 sold here in Germany, once it has entered the market.

Even though the Evora is a brilliant car, it is still in the wake of the Elise/Exige design. So not really a alternative for people anticipating a true Lotus super car and who are not really attracted by the spartan models

[alex-mayer 0]

Hello @ all,

I did buy an Evora here in Germany last year.

But -to be honest- I knew Lotus only from its former F1 days and I knew the Elise (and the Elise, please do pardon me, is too small and a bit too "hard-core" Track-car for me....).

The first pictures I saw by chance on the internet of the Evora made me.... shiver: A great look, a perfect evolution from the Elise.

That is MY car, that is a design I do love (in contrast to the new cars announced for the next years which -to me- are "too-Lambo-like").

The Evora 2+2 option was another big point for me (and my son, of course!).

The sales numbers here might result from the fact, that too many Germans do not really know Lotus.

And that will take some time, as the number of Lotus dealers does not allow much greater sales (I think there are 5 dealers in Germany for its 80.000.000 inhabitants...).

But I do hope more and more people will learn what Lotus stands for....

Greetings from Bavaria,

Alexander