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Archive for the ‘vehicle sales’ Category

Osaka-based car manufacturer Aspark exhibited its Owl EV Hypercar at the Paris Motor Show. While the car in the City Of Light was actually only a show model without a propulsion system or even a fully sorted interior, Aspark announced that it is opening preorders for the hypercar. How much do you need to deposit? Try a cool 1 million euros ($1.15 million)! That is just the deposit, mind you. Once the car is ready for delivery by mid-2020, you will have to churn out a few more million, rounding up the price to $3.6 million. Yup, crazy!

Despite nagging production issues, the Tesla Model 3 is fast becoming one of America’s best-selling sedans. Monthly and quarterly sales totals in the last three months ending in September revealed that the Model 3 outsold all but four of the top sedans sold in the U.S., regardless of their size and price. In that time span, Tesla sold around 55,800 units of the Model 3, outselling far more established models like the Nissan Sentra, Hyundai Elantra, Ford Fusion, and Chevrolet Malibu. The only four models that outsold the Model 3 are the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, and Honda Accord.

Mercedes-AMG’s promise to keep sales of the Project One hypercar exclusive is taking shape after reports that prospective buyers will have to sign contracts that include clauses preventing them from flipping their vehicles in the second-hand market immediately. Apparently, Mercedes-AMG is making it crystal clear to people with build slots for the Project One that the practice of flipping won’t be tolerated. It’s a move that other automakers have done in recent years, including Aston Martin and Ford, both of whom included similar clauses to customers of the Valkyrie and GT, respectively.

As Honda deals with the growing discontent among its consumer base on the aggressive mark-ups dealerships are putting on the Honda Civic Type R, Dodge is determined not to irate its consumers by instituting a unique dealership ordering process for the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. The process itself was designed to prevent the experience prospective Civic Type R customers are going through as they see the prices of the hot hatch skyrocket to almost double Honda’s own asking price.

A big part of Dodge’s allocation plan for the Challenger Demon is to place priority on dealerships willing to sell at or below the automaker’s suggested retail price. Specifically, these dealerships stand to get priority scheduling and receive lower serial-numbered cars as opposed to those who are putting mark-ups on the price of the highly sought-after muscle car. On top of that, dealerships who have sold more than one SRT Hellcat in the last 12 months are the only ones who are eligible to receive a Challenger Demon. And to make it in even more difficult for these dealers, those who meet the previous requirement will be allocated a certain number of models depending on how their sales performance for the Charger, Challenger, and SRT Hellcats are. As for those dealerships planning to sell the SRT Demon above the automaker’s MSRP, they’ll get theirs “after priority production is completed.”

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In case you’re in the final stages of formalizing a payment plan to pay for the $1.9 million Koenigsegg Regera supercar, you might need to call a halt to the proceedings. Your luck just ran out. See, Koenigsegg only produced 80 examples of the Regera, and all are now accounted for. Word of the “disappointing” development comes straight from Koenigsegg, with a post on the company blog. The car Koenigsegg describes as a “tour de force of technology” is officially sold out.

It’s an impressive achievement to sell $152 million worth of Regeras in such a short amount of time. Remember, the 1,500-horsepower supercar was introduced just 15 months ago at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. Considering its price and outright exclusivity, it’s amazing to think that all 80 units now have buyers. There is some good news, though, if you’re still in denial about missing out on the cars. Koenigsegg didn’t identify those who scored one, but it did indicate the possibility of finding any of the 80 Regeras in local dealerships. That could mean that an unspecified number of these supercars were bought to be resold. You’ll definitely have to pay a bigger premium for these cars than you intended, but hey, that’s the price you have to pay for waiting longer than you should have to get yours.

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The Barrett-Jackson auction recently went down in West Palm Beach, Florida, and while the auction of the first-ever 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was my main focus, there were plenty of other vehicles that fought for my attention. For two days I walked the 100 acres of the South Florida Fair Grounds looking at iron from every decade in motoring history. There were old Rolls Royces, Mercedes, and even a few Ferraris. Just feet away were iconic American muscle cars with hot-cammed V-8 thumping out unburned hydrocarbons and more than a few classic pickups and SUVs.

Of course, you know Barrett-Jackson is one of the largest traveling auctions in the country. It hammers bids on thousands of classic vehicles every year, some with million-dollar price tags. Barrett-Jackson visits locations including the Northeast, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, and obviously West Palm Beach, each year. The auctioneers, staff, and equipment all travel. The vehicles are generally more regional, with tons of locals and residents of nearby states looking to sell their stuff. The variety is nearly limitless.

Also limitless is my taste for history and cars. Combine the two, and I’m lost in a dizzying whirlwind of want and desire. Sadly, I wasn’t registered to bid (my wife might say thankfully). That didn’t stop me from looking, though, and look I did! Here are my five favorite vehicles from the auction.

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