Romanians go on Bentley shopping spree

Whoever says people are going to the Bucharest auto show just to look at cars is seriously mistaken. Or at least this is the opinion of the Porsche Romania officials, who say the company has sold one Lamborghini and seven Bentleys so far, of which four were sold at the Bucharest International Auto Show. The cumulated value of the sold cars is close to 1.5 million euros, all taxes included. However, none of the models exhibited by the importer (Bentley Arnage T and Lamborghini Gallardo) was sold, as the buyers chose other cars offered by the two brands.

“We have sold seven Bentley models. However, we did not sell the model we displayed – Arnage T, but the Continental GT, which costs 139,000 euros,” Porsche Romania officials say. The model exhibited by the Romanian importer costs 270,000 euros with no taxes included.

“Three of the contracts were signed before the Auto Show. The other contracts were signed in the first days of the Show,” Porsche Romania officials added. According to the quoted sources, six of the cars were sold in leasing (the down payment amounted to 15,000 euros), whereas the buyer of the seventh car paid in cash. This last car will go to Bulgaria.

However, the automobiles’ owners will not actually be able to drive them before next year, as the waiting time between signing the contract for a Bentley and delivery averages one year.

Bentley has a very wide fan base, as the Queen of Britain owns a custom-made Bentley limousine, but the brand is also a favourite of US actress and performer Jennifer Lopez.

In the case of Lamborghini, the buyer also preferred another model (Murcielago) to the one displayed at the Show (Gallardo). “The contract for this particular model was also signed before the Show,” Porsche Romania representatives said. Lamborghini Gallardo costs 150,000 euros, whereas the Murcielago model exceeds 200,000 euros.

Although they have not announced any sale contracts yet, the importers of other luxury brands such as Porsche or Maserati say there were people interested in the displayed models.

Porsche has brought two new models to the Show – 911 Turbo Cabrio and 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet. Whereas the former is worth more than 150,000 euros, the latter costs more than 110,000 euros, taxes not included.

Maserati, another brand selling cars worth over 100,000 euros has brought the Trofeo model to the Bucharest Auto Show.

Luxury car importers have been thriving on the Romanian market lately. For instance, Italian brand Maserati officially came to Romania this year and it only needed a couple of months to exceed its sales target for the entire year.

Moreover, Jaguar will open a show-room next year and, according to market rumours, Ferrari is also likely to storm the Romanian market. ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro