Dealerships think pricey cars will outrun economy

TAMPA - The stock market is deflating. Foreclosures, layoffs and bankruptcies are piling up. So now is a perfect time to start selling $350,000 sports cars in Tampa Bay, right?
We're about to find out.
Ferrari officials plan to open a lavish new dealership in Palm Harbor by Thanksgiving, also selling Bentley and Lamborghini. And the Elder Automotive Group this week opened sales of the first Spyker exotic sports cars in the Southeast.
Together the dealerships will quickly test the theory that ultra-rich car enthusiasts will defy economic gravity and spend enough on a car to pay for a large home in Westchase or two degrees from Harvard University.
"In the exotic car realm, there is huge potential for us," said Tom LaPointe, sales manager for Ferrari Tampa Bay, set to open next month at Tampa Road and U.S. 19. "There are a lot of people in the local market who have been hit hard in the last few years, especially with real estate and the stock markets. However, there are a lot of people who, even with that, are able to enjoy these cars."
It's a significant bet, because the dealership is a "standalone," relying on just Ferraris and other exotic models. By opening now, LaPointe hopes to start relationships with those rich, potential buyers, and be there for an economic upswing.
That resurgence couldn't come soon enough for exotic car makers. Top-end sports car sales - like Ferrari and Lamborghini - represent less than 1 percent of the U.S. auto market. Sales peaked in the United States in March 2006 at 405 units sold, according to data from Edmunds.com.
In September this year, that figure was 86.
That's a steeper decline than general car sales, which fell from 16.1 million last year to an estimated 14 million this year. September's auto sales plunged 27 percent compared with the same month last year.

Ferrari Gears Up
Into that market steps perhaps the most legendary name in sports cars - Ferrari.
Local connoisseurs of the Italian racecar will have a sleek, 26,000-square-foot dealership, with a nine-bay maintenance center and eventual hub for rallies and races.
Owned by a Ferrari chain of dealerships based in Orlando, the Tampa location will have a sales territory from Naples to Panama City. Between Ferrari and Lamborghini, the dealership's cars will range from $250,000 to $350,000 apiece.
"Tampa Bay has substantial pockets of wealth - throughout Avila, the beaches, South Tampa, northeast St. Petersburg - and a lot of these people love these cars. They just don't drive them to work for everyone to see," LaPointe said.
For those unable to buy one, perhaps the best close-up view will be the upcoming Tampa auto show, starting Nov. 6, where LaPointe expects to display several Ferraris and Lamborghinis.
A lesser known, but altogether exotic, brand called Spyker has also entered the Tampa Bay market. Elder Automotive Group added an attached showroom for Spyker to its dealership at I-275 and Fletcher that also sells Jaguar and Aston Martin.

Along Came A Spyker
At an opening party last week, a local real estate developer in Tampa bought the first Spyker in Tampa, a C8 Spyder GT2R version painted like a Formula 1 race car that cost $275,000. (The dealership declined to provide the buyer's name.)
"These are for people who no matter the economy say, 'I want to live my life how I want,'" said Robert Elder, president of Elder Automotive Group.
Even among sports cars, Spykers are for "purist" drivers, Elder said. Made in Amsterdam, base model Spykers come with 400-horsepower engines that push them to 187 mph before a limiting device prevents them from going faster.
As sports cars go, Spykers lack much of the automation found in Ferraris and Lamborghinis - no power brakes, no electronic suspension or even four-wheel drive, which is now almost standard in ultra-sports cars. Base models don't even come with stereos.
Instead, the design emphasizes racing mechanics, aeronautic styling, fine Italian leather and outrageous power.
So who will buy such an expensive, exotic machine?
Elder said he's is marketing the Spyker to private clients as almost a museum piece, a work of mechanical art for collectors who probably already have a Lamborghini, mega-yacht and private jet, and would want a Spyker just to add to their collection of toys.
Both LaPointe, of Ferrari, and Elder, of Spyker, mentioned a few local car collectors, including Lazydays RV SuperCenter co-founder Don Wallace.
Regardless of the economy, both Ferrari and Spyker should do well in Tampa, said Jonathan Wahl of Edmunds.
"A Spyker dealer only needs to sell one or two a month to be a profitable enterprise for them because they are so expensive," Wahl said. "And Ferrari historically, regardless of the economy, every single new one has been accounted for long before it's built. There are waiting lists a year or more long."
Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919.