Sports cars may be dying breed, says BMW sales chief

BMW has said sports cars may never find as many buyers as they did in the market's glory days before the global recession. "The sports-car market is roughly half of what it used to be," according to Ian Robertson, BMW's head of sales. "Post-2008 it just collapsed. I'm not so sure it'll ever fully recover."

Irish luxury car sales are showing signs of a dramatic recovery and the German premium brand is due to hit double- figure sales for its i8 supercar next year in Ireland. However, Robertson accepts that across Europe and North America the sports car's role as a status symbol has diminished, with sport-utility vehicles and their smaller crossover cousins becoming more popular.

In China and emerging markets, Robertson said, hot weather, pollution and a penchant for chauffeur-driven limousines have made sports cars less popular among well- heeled clients.

Despite the downturn, selling a car built for speed and performance – and priced at a relatively high margin – is an important part of building a brand's allure. That's why BMW is teaming with Toyota to share development costs on a new mid-size sports car, Robertson said.

The duo said last week their project has moved to the concept stage after completing a feasibility study. They declined to provide details.

Markets in Europe and North America, where cars such as Mercedes-Benz's SLK and Audi's TT are popular in the sports segment, are recovering slowly after the financial crisis sent demand to the lowest in decades. Annual growth in excess of 10 per cent in Asia has helped offset the declines.

Combined global sales of the TT, SLK and BMW’s Z4 peaked at about 114,000 in 2007 before slumping 45 per cent by 2010, according to research company IHS Automotive. Demand in China has remained negligible, while global sales are expected to reach about 72,000 vehicles by the end of the decade, it said.

"The market has been diluted with more offerings designed to appeal to the kind of demographic traditionally associated with these models," according to Tim Urquhart, an analyst at IHS.

“Young, urban upwardly mobile professionals are now able to buy a much wider range of lifestyle vehicles other than sports cars.” – Bloomberg