Convertibles play into that."Ĭonvertibles range in price from around $20,000 to about $850,000 for a Porsche 918 Spyder. "Everybody's getting back into performance and the sexy, flashy mode. "The fear of conspicuous consumption is dead," says Michelle Krebs, senior analyst with. IHS estimates that convertible sales grew nearly 9 percent last year. As vehicle development budgets were cut during the recession, convertibles were early casualties, says Brinley.īut now, with unemployment down and the stock market and luxury car sales up, automakers are looking for niches such as convertibles to increase sales in a competitive market. There were 48 six years ago now there are 45. Automakers, realizing that it wasn't socially acceptable to flaunt wealth while others were struggling, rolled out few new ragtop models after the recession. "New models drive sales up," said IHS senior analyst Stephanie Brinley, whose firm expects convertible sales to rise 63 percent from 152,400 last year to 248,000 in 2020.įollowing the recession, sales of convertibles tailed off. by 2020, 15 more than last year and the most since at least 2000.
IHS Automotive, an industry consulting firm, predicts there will be 60 different convertible models in the U.S. That's the feeling among automakers as they roll out new convertible models at a time when many consumers are gaining confidence in the economy and have more money to spend on less-practical big-ticket items thanks to juicy stock market returns.Īt the Detroit auto show later this week, Buick, Alfa Romeo and BMW all plan to show off glitzy open-air models to capitalise on that newfound confidence, and industry analysts expect more to come.
Detroit: Americans are ready to let their tops down and feel the wind blow through their hair.
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