Cryptocurrency traders love Lamborghinis. Hang out in the parking lot of a Bitcoin conference or lurk around Instagram, and you’ll see plenty of evidence of this. So with crypto prices plunging and high-profile exchanges like FTX collapsing, it makes sense that used car lots would be flooded with six-figure Italian supercars, right?
It’s a nice theory, and while there’s some evidence that the exotic car market is seeing a slight uptick in appraisals and used models for sale, it’s perhaps too early to conclusively link this to the collapse of cryptocurrency.
Yes I know. bummer. But that said, there’s certainly some interesting data out there, so let’s dive in.
I reached out to three sources to get their take on this, and they basically all told me there are too many factors at play to say with certainty that crypto brethren are getting rid of their expensive auto assets in droves.
Autotrader’s data team took a deep dive into used vehicles selling over $100,000 and found a slight increase in market share this year compared to the previous three years. This is what they found.
“The data team has really dug into this,” Brenna Buehler, senior public relations manager at Autotrader, said in an email. “While this is true, there are so many variables and the data team is struggling to link the increase to one thing, especially when it comes to crypto.”
She added: “The trend is going up, but this could be for a number of reasons.”
Car salesman Edmunds essentially told me the same thing. Thinking it would be a little too early to detect any movement in used car sales and inventory, they pulled some data from Edmunds’ valuation tool, which people use to price their current car with the intent to sell. They compiled a list of nearly 70 brands, including Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Bentley and Ferrari.
The results were surprising. According to Edmunds, valuations went up slightly a few weeks before the big announcements of problems in the crypto market. While it’s impossible to draw too many conclusions, the company’s experts left scratching their heads over what other possible reasons there could be for the surge in ratings.
“The trend is quite interesting.”
“The trend is rather interesting as our ratings went up a few weeks before the major announcements of crypto market trouble,” Ivan Drury, Edmunds director of insights, said in an email. “I’d hate to jump to conclusions (or postulate on possible conspiracy theories ‘insiders’ knew about and wanted to offload assets before the announcements) about why, but I think the data makes you wonder.”
“We’re not 100 percent convinced that this is indicative of what you’re hearing,” Drury added, “and it would be best to see these vehicles eventually appear for sale on the used market before jumping to conclusions, but it did raise some eyebrows.”
Drury’s aren’t the only eyebrows raised. To wrap things up, I reached out to the pseudonymous @CarDealershipGuy, or CDG, who runs a large independent dealership group and strives to be a trusted resource for online car buyers.
“The exotics market is correcting considerably.”
He says he has noticed “significant” increases in exotic inventory levels, especially Lamborghini Urus and Mercedes G-Class. Notably, G-Wagons that sold for nearly $300,000 a few months ago are now hovering around $200,000-$220,000 in wholesale markets.
“The exotic market is correcting massively,” CDG said in an email, “and sellers are accepting offers that were unthinkable just months ago.”
Given Twitter’s status as a real-time schadenfreude machine, it can be difficult to judge whether the fun in crypto’s biggest boasters being forced to sell their coveted luxuries is real or just a wish. But after consulting with the data experts, it seems that there is some truth to the phenomenon, but more analysis is still needed.
Earlier this summer Bloomberg reported that the collapse of crypto has flooded second-hand markets with other luxury goods, including Patek Philippe and Rolex watches. But the publication also recently checked in on the exotic car market and locked that “Lamborghinis do just fine though.”
Maybe it’s time to check again.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.