Most Coveted Cars

 

By: Bengt Halvorson, ForbesAutos.com
Photo Credit: Lotus

What’s not in the garage is often the ultimate measure of exclusivity where cars are concerned.

Coveted Under 100k

• Lotus Evora
• Smart Fortwo

Being able to get a spot on a months- or sometimes years-long waiting list shows true cachet. Because once the car finally arrives, it’s all about conveying to others, “Sorry you missed out,� says Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with the consulting firm Global Insight.

Surprisingly, in at least one case, you don’t have to spend much more than $12,000 for the privilege of saying that.

In pictures: Most Coveted Cars

One of the vehicles on our list of most coveted cars costs less than a down payment on a five-bedroom home: The $11,590-$13,590 Smart Fortwo, a two-seat mini-car with an upscale feel, is becoming a hot commodity among elite urban dwellers. The fact that it’s perceived as environmentally friendly only ups its value.

Two other eco-minded vehicles made our most-coveted list. The Fisker Karma, an upcoming plug-in hybrid luxury sedan, and the Tesla Roadster, an all-electric sports car, are harbingers of a new kind of exclusivity: trend-setting performance and design matched with environmental sensibilities.

“It’s an idea whose time has come,� says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute in New York. Any high-end manufacturer that can pull this off will have “an ability to leapfrog� other luxury brands in cachet, he says.

But at least for now, blue-bloods like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce, whose cars are among the least fuel-efficient available, still dominate our list of the 15 most coveted cars.

To compile the ranking, we queried a wide range of automakers, large and small — and in many cases their dealerships — to find out the time it takes a customer to receive a new car after putting down a deposit. We focused on models currently in production or that will begin production in 2009 and that you can walk into a dealer and order. This eliminated ludicrously rare vehicles like the Lamborghini Reventon, all 20 of which were sold before the car was even revealed to the public at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.

We included no more than two models from any manufacturer and ordered the list by estimated wait times. Go to the accompanying slideshow to see the full list of most coveted cars.

I Got It, You Don’t

Being able to drive anywhere without seeing someone else in the same car is a true test of automotive exclusivity. Global Insight’s Lindland likens this to the “scourge of women everywhere: God forbid you show up to an event in the same dress as someone else.�

In order to be especially coveted, a car also has to stand alone either as a trend-setter or performance benchmark, says Dave Kinney, owner and publisher of CarsThatMatter.com, a print and online price guide for classic and exotic cars. And if another model eclipses it too soon, then the value of the first is greatly reduced. “The hype has to be followed up with reality,� he says.

Rolls-Royce has done an especially good job in delivering on all these counts, Kinney says. Its massive slab-sided Phantom sedan, with its rear-hinged doors, imposing front grille and oddly small headlights, wasn’t an instant hit with the old-money crowd when it launched in 2003. But it found favor with younger, trendier new-money buyers, and now it’s considered a prestige benchmark.

“The Phantom was ahead of the curve on styling,� Kinney says. “It defined what the market wanted before the market knew it.�

Propelled by the positive momentum it built in recent years, Rolls-Royce has launched a pair of smaller two-door cars, the Phantom Coupe and Drophead Coupe. They’re fast becoming among the most sought-after new cars available with two-year-plus waiting lists that have secured them the third and fourth spots on our list.

By contrast, Mercedes’ über-luxury Maybach brand, which it launched in 2002 to compete directly with Bentley and Rolls-Royce, hasn’t mustered enough mojo for long waiting lists. “You can never explain cachet, and for some reason Maybach just didn’t have it,� Lindland says.

Part of its tepid reception stems from a low-key image that lacks the full “ego feed� of some competing brands, she says.

Full Steam Ahead

Global Insight has seen no hiccup in what it calls the ultra-luxury market — low-volume models that start above $100,000. In fact, this segment of the market has burgeoned from less than 2,000 units in 1996 to more than 10,000 in 2007. The firm expects it to grow to 13,000 units by 2015.

Translation: The wealthy keep spending to get the most exclusive, look-at-me cars while mortgages are foreclosed at a record rate and the rest of the auto market languishes.

“It may be bad form, but there isn’t any sense of modesty here anyway,� Lindland says. “Nobody’s missing a house payment to get these cars.�

A small portion of ultra-luxury-car buyers are affected by the current economic climate — “Wall Street guys who didn’t get their bonus,� Lindland says — but they’ll have an almost inconsequential impact on this segment’s sales.

Still, boutique automakers are worried about how far they can push the exclusivity and rarity argument, she says. Ferrari went from selling 763 vehicles globally just 10 years ago to 6,465 in 2007.

“To make the luxury halo, you have to manage supply,� Pedraza says.

A Steady Trickle of Cars

Ferrari is the only longstanding automaker to manage a centralized waiting list for cars. Other automakers typically allocate a certain number to each dealership, with customers left to vie for primacy depending on whatever local system is in place.

By all accounts, Ferrari is masterful at managing its waiting lists, always making sure demand exceeds supply. “You have to have a wait period,� Lindland says, but make it too long and you’re going to lose customers.

Existing customers often get priority status on new purchases, and not just with Ferrari, but other boutique automakers as well. Currently, more than half of those who place orders on new and upcoming Ferrari models are returning customers, according to Ferrari North America. “When you buy a Ferrari, you join an elite group,� Pedraza says.

Becoming part of the Ferrari “family� is one of the main reasons for the company’s continued success, a spokesperson says. And that “join our club� elitism works for other manufacturers like Lamborghini, too, Lindland says.

Image is a big part of it. Buyers of these types of vehicles are “high-profile, and want to have the newest, the latest, and the greatest,� Kinney says. “It doesn’t hurt that they make a great car —perception meets reality here in a lot of ways.�

Two Ferraris rank high on our most coveted list: the just-announced Ferrari California convertible, which features the company’s first folding hard top, and the 599 GTB Fiorano, viewed by many enthusiasts as the ultimate in Ferrari performance.

As stunning as cars like the Ferrari California and Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe are, the wealthy elite in search of automotive exclusivity aren’t won over by style and image alone, says Luxury Institute’s Pedraza. “They’re always thinking about lasting values. What is the prestige value? What is the lasting value? They want the best, but they want it to hold its value.�

And in this regard, a lofty price and relative rarity don’t guarantee long-lasting allure. “There’s no hard-and-fast rule that a car will be desired — and valuable — years out,� Kinney says.

“Those that bring the most media attention, that attract the right people and the right crowd, have the chance to hold their value better in the long run,� he says.

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