So, while car makers have experienced a slump in passenger car sales this year — hardly surprising, given the 2009 global economic downturn — luxury makes like Audi, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes and Land Rover are still selling well.

Take the brand new Q5, a sports utility vehicle priced at RM350,000 by German car makers Audi, launched early this year. You can’t spot one on our roads yet, but that’s not because no one is buying it.

Hundreds of customers are on the massive Q5 waiting list and will have to wait till June next year for it to arrive!

“We continue to receive bookings from customers, despite them being told that there is a huge waiting list. The demand is exceeding supply,” said an Audi salesperson at its showroom. “The Q5 is very popular and on the dream list of many people, so they don’t mind waiting for it.”

The Porsche Panamera — a luxury  sports car that costs a whopping RM990,000 for the basic model — was launched here on Oct 3, but the huge price tag has not deterred car lovers despite the recession.

According to a Porsche salesperson, it sold one car only days after the launch, and also secured a substantial
number of bookings.

“Porsche customers are usually ultra-rich people, whose fortunes are not affected by whatever recession is going on,” said the salesperson.

The Lexus RX350, costing RM377,000, is another expensive model launched this year which has garnered better-than-expected sales. At its launch, the Lexus spokesperson targeted selling 105 units by year end.

However, as of August, 138 units of the RX350  have been sold.British car makers Land Rover — whose SUV models are priced from RM250,000 to RM650,000 — have also benefited in sales.

Malaysian Automative Association (MAA) statistics show that overall sales for Land Rover was 56 units as of August, higher than its overall sales of 52 for last year.

Although car makers are experiencing a less-than-ideal year in sales, luxury car makers have performed better than expected.

And it’s all due to the “dream car” appeal among car enthusiasts that car makers have cleverly cashed in on.

Recognising that customers are willing to fork out a lot on their ultimate dream machine, car makers put their best effort into developing models that are almost impossible to resist.

Just take a glance at the new Mercedes-Benz SUV model ML350. How can you not want that, especially if you have the money? And this baby, introduced in April this year, costs a massive RM508,888, yet by August, it still managed to  sell 31 units.

So — where’s the recession?

New products and services boost BMW sales

THE better-than-expected sales of luxury cars in Malaysia this year can be attributed to several factors, luxury car-makers said. For BMW Malaysia Sdn Bhd, 2009 has been favourable with 2,973 units sold till September.

This is only 31 units or 1.03 per cent less than that achieved in the same period last year which was 3,004 units. Its corporate communications manager, Sashi Ambi, said the decline was largely due to models
nearing the end of their life cycle such as the 5 Series, 6 Series, X3 and X5.

As for good sales performance, despite the economic downturn, Sashi partly attributed it to the German car maker’s new products launched this year.

“The breadth of new models launched recently, such as the new Z4, the 7 Series and our most recent BMW EfficientDynamics Diesel models, which include the BMW320d, the BMW520d, and BMW730Ld, together with a handful of motorcycles from our BMW Motorrad division and the new Mini Convertible, were some new
product offerings that increased our sales this year.

“This is on top of the company’s continuous sales growth in its bread-and-butter 3 Series model,” he said.

Apart from that, Sashi said dealership initiatives had also helped the brand. The introduction of the BMW
Premium Selection programme by Auto Bavaria Glenmarie and Ingress Auto BMW dealerships, which is the country’s first Premium Pre-Ownership programme especially for BMW cars had been successful in raising the popularity of BMW cars.

Besides those, several marketing campaigns such as the Merdeka Campaign, BMW Driver Training programme, and the recent BMW EfficientDynamics campaign, had also been core in generating interest for BMW cars, he said.

“However, the sales of our premium cars do not rely only on product offerings and sales programmes but also the whole premium experience of owning a BMW.

“In achieving this, we’ve introduced our service programme, the BMW Service+Repair Inclusive (BSRI) and with its newly added component, the Condition Base Service (CBS) programme,” said Sashi.

He said the growth of the luxury car industry is always steady but challenging. “The challenge lies in meeting the most discerning demands of our customers. However, once this is achieved, the brand will be the least
affected by economic instability.”

This was echoed by UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd president Kuah Kock Heng.

Speaking for Lexus Malaysia, Kuah said although the current conditions are challenging, the company believed that there will always be a demand for premium products.

“The Lexus is a luxury brand. Our key customers tend to be very high-end, affluent buyers.

“Such people are generally very discerning about the car they drive. Like the RX350 that was launched earlier this year, it appeals to the affluent who emphasise quality, safety and performance.

“Our customers understand how the Lexus philosophy ties into their lifestyle,” he said.

Land Rover Malaysia, which comes under Sime Darby Auto Connexion Sdn Bhd, credited its good sales performance on competitive pricing and market demand.

A company spokesman said this year’s sales record for Land Rover began from November 2008, when its new models were launched for 2009.

“Our 2009 sales were accumulated from last November. It will be the same situation this year, whereby we will be launching our 2010 models next month. The upcoming models would be for Range Rover, Range Rover Sports, Freelander 2 and Discovery 4. “When we launch new models, we make sure that the prices are competitive. And whatever new models we launch are always based on market demand,” said the spokesman.

The spokesman said each Land Rover model has a different target market that, in turn, possesses different
trends in car-buying. This could also be among the reasons why people can still purchase premium cars during an economic slowdown.