They say you can tell a lot about a person by the car they choose to drive. After all, our vehicles are more than just a method of getting from A to B – they’re a status symbol, a reflection of our values and our aspirations, and as much an aspect of our public persona as the clothes we choose to wear each day.
As such, it should come as no real surprise that there’s always a significant amount of interest into the car choices of the UHNW. The vehicles that the world’s elite opt for often give real insight into the state of the automotive industry and the metaphorical direction of travel for various trends, as well as a clue into the characters behind the wheel.
You only have to look at the vehicle choices of some of the richest individuals on the planet to see the length and breadth of this particular spectrum. Warren Buffett – always something of an enigma – drives a fairly humble Cadillac XTS, which gives no clue whatsoever as to his $100 billion fortune. Elon Musk, on the other hand, hit the headlines for purchasing the Lotus Esprit featured in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, and in typical Musk style has discussed his plans to turn it into an actual functioning submarine.
Let’s step away from the eccentricities of the world’s wealthiest individuals for a moment, and instead focus on the most popular car brands of American households in higher wealth brackets. Herein, we can gain a broader view of wealthy spending habits and lifestyle choices, and develop insight into the emerging trends likely to shape both the high-end and regular automotive industries of tomorrow.
Mainstream car brands reign supreme
When asked the question ‘which car brands are most popular among wealthy households in the USA’, you might expect the answer to feature the quintessential roster of luxury automotive manufacturers. However, statistics from the past year paint a radically different picture, and hallowed names ranging from Ferrari to Bentley, Jaguar and Lamborghini are notably absent from the rankings.
In fact, by a considerable margin, it’s Tesla – the automotive brand headed by the aforementioned Elon Musk – that is the most popular car manufacturer among US households with an income exceeding $500,000. With Tesla accounting for an impressive 19.3% of new vehicle registrations, the EV brand leaves far more established manufacturers in the shade, signaling a notable sea change among consumer preferences within this segment of society.
In second place, with a relatively meager 9.9% of new vehicle registrations by wealthy households is, perhaps unsurprisingly, German automotive megalith BMW. Mercedes-Benz and Land Rover – both stalwarts of the luxury automotive scene in Europe and elsewhere across the globe – account for 8.7 and 5.8% respectively.
While many of the car brands on the top 10 list of popular manufacturers among America’s wealthy represent a reliable notion of luxury (the list, after all, includes Porsche, Lexus and Audi, all of which have long been brands of choice for UHNW individuals), it’s interesting to note that Ford and Toyota also feature alongside their far loftier peers. Indeed, it’s arguable that none of the brands listed are what most would assume as the first choice of America’s wealthy households, and that factors other than ostentatious displays of wealth are clearly at play.
The future is electric
It perhaps shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to find Tesla vehicles as the brand of choice for America’s wealthier individuals. After all, few other brands have shifted the paradigm of next-gen technology and EV performance in quite the same way, and even fewer brands have been quite so consistently in the headlines – there’s no such thing as bad publicity, or so it seems.
However, things seem to go a little deeper than just a handful of savvy advertising campaigns and spotlight-stealing antics. The global elite have proven, time after time, to place great value on both innovation and sustainability when it comes to more significant purchases – something that we can see very clearly by UHNW individuals’ preference for electric vehicles.
Regardless of one’s feelings about the brand’s CEO, Tesla embodies technological innovation and has undoubtedly shifted the envelope when it comes to how electric vehicles are perceived. As for sustainability, the dawn of the EV is finally underway – and wealthier consumers want to be perceived as both ahead of the curve and on the right side of history when it comes to their green credentials.
That’s not to say that Tesla is a humble choice of car brand – if anything, one of Musk’s great successes has been to ignite the public’s imagination around how a new age of EVs looks, feels and performs. The Tesla Roadster was launched back in 2008 and became an instant sensation; a top speed of 130 mph, zero-60 in four seconds, and a body that recalled the sleekness of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz proved that EVs were here to stay, and they signaled a new approach to high-end conscientious consumption.
Why do mainstream brands hold so much UHNW appeal?
If you really can tell much about someone from the car that they drive, then perhaps the presence of mostly mainstream brands in the top 10 for UHNW Americans probably tells us little more than the obvious: that UHNW Americans tend to be sensible rather than ostentatious, and prefer practical and economical options for everyday usage over anything especially flashy.
In a world where time is our most valuable commodity, and where privacy and discretion are precious assets, it’s perhaps little wonder that – when it comes to choosing cars – wealthy Americans just want to get from A to B in reliable vehicles that won’t let them down.
