Astonishing Growth in Near-Luxury Sector May Lead Market out of Doldrums
Have Canadian baby boomers cashed in their dwindling stock portfolios for one last car fling before retirement?
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| The completely redesigned and significantly more upscale 2004 Nissan Maxima trounced its German rivals by jumping more than 50 percent in buyer interest. (Photo: Nissan Motors) |
Looking at new figures recently released by Car Cost Canada (www.carcostcanada.com), which show steady growth in buyer interest through June in the Luxury/Performance car segment, it's hard to reach any other conclusion. The firm tracks and reports the industry's major trends in their monthly report that also highlights consumer interest in specific models.
Topping shopper's lists in June, the completely redesigned and significantly more upscale 2004 Nissan Maxima trounced its German rivals by jumping more than 50 percent in buyer interest. Close sibling Infiniti's G35 Sport Sedan/Coupe broke sales records with similar performance, while Audi, Lexus and BMW all showed gains of more than 10% over last year, as indicated in the rankings below:
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| "There's more buyer interest in the Japanese makes than for the German sedans, which is extraordinary." (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
- Nissan Maxima
- BMW 3-series
- Audi A4
- Infiniti G35
- Acura TSX
- Acura RSX
- Acura 3.2 TL/CL
- Volkswagen Passat
- Mercedes C-class
- Ford Mustang
"We've had over 1400 member requests in the last two months for dealer invoice costs for the top 4 models alone," commented Paul Timoteo, President of Car Cost Canada. "Taken together, there's more buyer interest in the Japanese makes than for the German sedans which is extraordinary considering Infiniti and Nissan barely registered on the luxury car radar a couple of years ago."