Decreased Demand for Expensive Cars in Georgia

The FINANCIAL — According to the Auto dealers interviewed by The FINANCIAL, sales of expensive cars in Georgia have decreased.

The FINANCIAL — According to the Auto dealers interviewed by The FINANCIAL, sales of expensive cars in Georgia have decreased. Customers say they are still interested in luxury cars, but have not enough funds to afford them.

“The Audi A8 is one of the highest priced cars at our centre. The cost of this car starts from 65,000 EUR. The Audi Q7 is also one of the most expensive cars, the cost of which can go up to 105,000 EUR, depending on the specifications of the order,” said Nino Magradze, Sales Manager of Audi Centre.

“The best selling models are the Q7, Q5 and A4. We had almost no problems in selling high priced cars before the August war in 2008 and global crisis but since then sales of expensive cars have significantly decreased,” Magradze said.

According to Lasha Lomidze, Commercial Director of Mercedes Benz in Georgia, the most expensive car is the GL 500 which costs 91,900 EUR.

“Over the last few years due to the crisis, I have tried to buy less expensive cars. Not only me but my friends also prefer to buy cheaper cars now. They have been made cautious by the crisis. 3 or 4 years ago I would not have thought the same of the cars that I now think are expensive. Cars I wouldn’t have considered purchasing, now I do,” said Temur Bakhtadze, 45.

“Everyone has good taste in cars, but the main point is how much money people can spend. I do believe that during this hard financial period, it’s better to buy cheaper cars, at least for the next 1 or 2 years,” said David Gogrichiani, 30.

According to Beqa Bukia, 23, if he had a significant amount of money he would never buy an expensive car with it. As he says, the price of the car doesn’t matter, the main point is how the car fits the person.

“The Mercedes C class is the best selling model at our centre. S class cars are often well sold, which cost around 125,000 EUR,” Lomidze said.

“At the moment the most well sold, expensive car is the S class, which costs 125,000 USD, Bentley – 120,000 USD. ML is as well sold as the Toyota Prado and BMW X5. There is low demand for expensive cars in Georgia, we have Maybach and Lamborgini models which we send to Dubai,” said Paata Chedia, Sales Manager of Autoline.

According to LuxuryCars representatives, the most expensive car at their centre is the Infiniti FX 35 which costs 60,000 USD.

“The most demanded cars at our centre are the Nissan Tida, Qashqai and Pathfinder. From May we will sell the Nissan Patrol,” said Tamta Siprashvili, Sales Manager of LuxuryCars.

As the officials of Renault say the most expensive car they offer consumers in Georgia is the Renault Laguna which costs 25,000 USD.

“The Toyota Prado of 2010 is the most expensive and popular car at the moment at our centre,” said Nino Gagua, Sales Manager of Toyota Centre Georgia.