Luxury car sales fall: Only 15 cars costing over 150,000 euros registered in Q1

The volume of registrations of imported luxury cars - new ones and second-hand ones alike declined by over 76% in the first quarter of this year, to 15 units, compared with 64 automobiles in the same period of last year, according to statistics of the Driving Licences and Vehicle Registration Department within the Ministry of Administration and Interior. This category includes brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley and Rolls-Royce, cars that cost over 150,000 euros. On the other hand, luxury saloon cars (with prices starting from around 70,000 euros) underwent a sales decline by over 65%, from 37 cars, according to statistics of the Automotive Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA), which only records new car sales. The best-selling luxury saloon car in the first quarter of the year remained Mercedes-Benz S-Class, with 16 units, but down 78%, followed by the new BMW 7 Series, launched at the beginning of this year, with 8 cars, 60% more than in the similar time of last year. According to APIA, the most affected by the crisis was Maserati, which did not sell any car in the first three months of the year, after selling 11 cars in December, i.e. a quarter of overall deliveries made in 2008.