While 2021 saw widespread financial problems as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy, a few markets excelled amid the chaos. The producers of the highest-quality goods for the wealthiest denizens saw a surge in sales across the board last year.
Luxury cars
Premium automakers such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Lamborghini drove the luxury vehicle industry’s record-breaking sales in 2021.
Rolls-Royce sold 5,586 vehicles in 2021, the highest number in the company’s history, according to company CEO Torsten Müller-Otvös. Lamborghini also reported record-breaking numbers, selling 8,405 models in 2021. Bentley sold 14,659 units in 2021, a 31% increase in sales from 2020.
When asked why sales increased, Müller-Otvös said the massive sales are because people have realized “life can be short” and that they should enjoy it to the fullest.
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Boats and superyachts
After a significant increase in sales in 2020, the boating industry continued to ride that wave in 2021.
The surge in boat sales is attributable to an increase in local vacations due to travel restrictions, John-Michael Donahue, vice president at the National Marine Manufacturers Association, told the Washington Examiner. He said that with pandemic restrictions limiting vacation options, families invested in owning recreational boats.
“Following record sales in 2020, recreational boating remained the leading outdoor recreation in the United States in 2021 with new powerboat sales exceeding 300,000 units for only the second time in 15 years,” said NMMA President Frank Hugelmeyer in a press statement.
There has also been a significant surge in the sale of superyachts, or yachts larger than 24 meters. More than 800 superyachts were ordered in 2021, according to the Global Order Book 2022, more than double the number purchased in 2020 (409) or 2019 (406).
Private art
Art experts could hardly picture a rosier market, with several auction houses reporting record-high sales numbers in 2021.
Sotheby’s reported selling more than 7.3 billion in merchandise in 2021, a 32% increase in sales from 2020, and British auction house Christie’s reported it sold $7.1 billion of product in 2021, its best in five years. The company only sold $4.4 billion worth of products in 2020 and 3.6 billion in 2019.
The successful sales can be partly attributed to the selling of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, from creators such as Beeple, comprising $150 million of Christie’s 2021 sales.
Private jets
Private jet sales took off in 2021, to the point companies struggled to keep up with demand.
More than 1,200 jets were delivered in the second quarter of 2021, compared to less than 1,000 in the second quarter of 2019, CNBC reported.
“With 3.3 million flights from January through December, business jet traffic was 7% higher than in 2019, the previous high point for global business jet demand,” private jet firm WingX said in a press statement.
When asked the reason for the increase in flights in 2021, a spokesperson for WingX said it loosely correlated with COVID-19 and an increased desire for recreational travel.
Doug Gollan, the editor of Private Jet Card Comparisons and Forbes contributor, confirmed the effects of the pandemic on travel, telling the Washington Examiner private jet sales grew as people with enough wealth realized flying privately could minimize exposure to COVID-19.
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While some executives translate the success of luxury markets to a “life is short” mentality, another reason could be the growth of the upper class.
In 2021, 660 people became billionaires, bringing the number of billionaires in the world to 2,755, according to Forbes. The year 2020 also saw 1.7 million people in the United States become millionaires, based on Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report, bringing the number of people with $1 million in assets to 21,951,000, or 8.8% of the U.S.
