While luxury car buyers have traditionally skewed older, dealer Lonny Soza is watching 35-year-old influencers walk into his Houston showroom and buy Rolls-Royces with cryptocurrency.
"The average age of a Rolls Royce buyer was 65 when I got into the business eight years ago," Soza told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D'Arc and Yossi Levi. "And then over the years, it had gone down to 45. And recently, they're saying that the average age of a Rolls Royce buyer is now 35."
Why it matters: The luxury market is typically the leading indicator of changes that will affect volume brands within the next few years. And younger, high-net-worth buyers are already seeking non-traditional buying experiences.
Big picture: Post Oak Motor Cars (which sells Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Bugatti, Karma, Chevrolet, and Lotus) now serves three distinct customer groups that barely existed a decade ago.
First, crypto wealth holders who built fortunes in digital assets prefer alternative payment methods. The dealership uses BitPay to process cryptocurrency transactions, giving customers options to convert to dollars immediately or complete purchases directly in crypto.
Second, post-pandemic entrepreneurs who started businesses during COVID and built wealth quickly. "There are a lot more self-made millionaires out there than ever before," Soza said. Houston alone has over 90,000 millionaires, while nearby Austin ranks among the fastest-growing millionaire markets nationally.
Third, social media influencers who monetized their online presence into serious wealth. "We've seen an increase in some influencers coming in. It's amazing. These are young kids. You would never in a million years guess that they were there to buy a car," Soza said.
Between the lines: Despite the demographic upheaval, Post Oak is gaining market share, helping to offset margin compression from inventory challenges.
"Year to date, we're up in almost all of our brands, including both new and used, from a volume perspective year over year. Margins aren't as robust, but that's okay," Soza said. "We're maintaining our presence in the market. We're gaining market share."
Most of the margin pressure comes from leftover 2024 Bentley inventory that Post Oak carried into the year.
"There were a lot of Bentleys on the ground. We had a lot of 24s we rolled into the year with, and we're still very profitable," Soza explained. "Now we're rolling into the 25s. I expect to see that we get back to normal returns very soon."
Looking ahead: Post Oak is building an 18,000-square-foot standalone Bugatti facility (the only one of its kind in the country) while adding hypercar brands like Czinger, the Danish supercar brand Zenvo, and the Spanish brand Hispano Suiza to capture the multi-million-dollar market.
“As far as anything outside of Texas, we'd love to stick with luxury and up. Mercedes, BMW, all the way up to ultra luxury and exotics," Soza explained.
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