What cost-of-living crisis? Australia's ultra-luxury car market grows thanks to strong sales of Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren in 2024 despite challenging times ahead for the industry

As the automotive industry's peak body warns of challenging times ahead for the new-car market in Australia due to rising costs and high interest rates, there is one corner of the market that is thriving.

Australians bought considerably more ultra-luxury cars from the likes of Porsche, McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce in 2024 compared to previous years, proving once again that tightening household budgets aren’t impacting the top end of town.

Leading the charge was Porsche, which saw its market share grow by 16.1 per cent in 2024 from 6052 sales in 2023 to 7029.

Comprising nearly half of those sales was the Macan SUV, which starts at $94,000, before on-road costs, rising to $184,400 for the Turbo Electric variant.

It was followed by the Cayenne SUV and 911, which start at $141,700 and $279,000, respectively (both before on-road costs). Porsche sold 225 more units of its flagship 911 than it did last year for a total of 783 sales.

Italian stablemates Lamborghini and Ferrari also saw strong returns in 2024, with their market shares up 13.3 per cent and 14.4 per cent, respectively, off the back of their coupe and convertible ranges.

2023 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS

Both also benefited from strong sales of their respective SUVs, the Lamborghini Urus and Ferrari Purosangue.

English luxury staples such as Rolls-Royce and McLaren too were winners, with sales up 10.2 per cent and 11.8 per cent, respectively.

Despite notable dips from Maserati, Bentley and an even slighter one from Aston Martin, 8411 vehicles were sold from these brands overall, up 8.9 per cent from 2023, or 745 vehicles, and an even further 13.7 per cent, or 1153 vehicles, from 2022 sales.

2019 Lamborghini Urus

Of course, that's only a small fraction of the record 1,256,896 vehicles sold in Australia last year.

Despite the record figure, Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) Chief Executive Tony Weber sounded the alarm for the new-car market in Australia, with sales declining steadily in the back end of 2024.

“The second half of the year showed a concerning trend with sales in the private segment falling to very low levels as interest rates and general cost of living pressures impacted Australian families," said Weber.

You can check the full sales numbers of the aforementioned brands in the table below.