Ferrari, Bentley find buyers in Singapore despite the pandemic

Sales of luxury cars in Singapore remain resilient despite the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the Business Times reported Friday, citing data from the Land Transport Authority and automakers.

Six luxury brands -- Aston Martin Holdings, Bentley Motors Ltd., Ferrari NV, Automobili Lamborghini SPA, McLaren Automotive Ltd. and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. -- sold a total of 178 cars in the first nine months of 2020 versus 256 units for all of last year, according to the report.

After adjusting for Singapore’s partial lockdown, the companies sold about 30 cars a month, up from 21 a month in 2019, the BT said. Still, registrations for the high-end car market are a lagging indicator as orders can be made far in advance of delivery, so data may not always accurately reflect a brand’s current performance, the report said.

“Sales have been picking up since reopening and we attribute that to customer confidence coming back," Bentley’s director for the Asia-Pacific region, Bernd Pichler, told the newspaper. Chong Kah Wei, a general manager at McLaren Singapore, said customer orders continued to accumulate.