UNDERSTANDING THE HYPER-CAR MARKET

UNDERSTANDING THE HYPER-CAR MARKET

May 24, 2019

The automotive industry has been undoubtedly one of the biggest and ever-evolving businesses since the industrial revolution. From just being a subject of commutation to being a symbol of status, the cars have evolved over years to meet the changing needs of the consumers. In the modern era of globalisation, the automotive business firms compete on a worldwide platform delivering to the customer a wide array of car models, differentiated by segment and type based on the diversified requirements of the customers. These classes vary from the compact or mini cars, to the coupes or sedans, SUV based on utility; while from street cars to sportscars and super cars based on the performance. Till the last decade, the supercars were considered to be the niche and expensive segment of the cars, catering to performance savvy needs of the rich and elite automotive enthusiasts. However, with the increasing concern of the automotive users towards the environmental impacts, the automaker companies of high performance and luxurious cars models started investing in their Research & Development divisions to develop models which will cater to the customers’ needs for performance, while being environment friendly and futuristic at the same time. Thus, came the era of Hyper-cars. These high-speed vehicles have been designed to operate on the advanced hybrid technology, minimizing the emission levels compared to its cheaper siblings (Research and Markets, 2017).

The Hyper-cars refer to the premium car models, built with the combination of aerodynamic design, low drag body chassis, ultra-weight light and alternative energy source. The energy sources are the electric motor or hydrogen fuel cells, widely known for improved mileage and efficiency. The integration of the energy efficient systems and automotive technologies has been the prime focus of the automotive firms, contributing to the development of various cars, having high performance and efficiency ratios at the same time. This phenomenon has led to the growth of the automotive industry. While the entire automotive market is expected to grow at a steady pace, the Hyper-car market is forecasted to grow at an accelerated rate in the coming decade. America (specifically north) is expected to have the largest market share of the increasing automotive market due to early adoption of the Hyper-cars, succeed by the European nations, and the Asia pacific, despite being the late adopter, will be having the fastest growing Hyper-car market (Research and Markets, 2017).

HYPER-CAR VS SUPERCAR. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

The main question that leaves many people lost for words is what exactly is a Hyper-car? How is it different compared to SuperCars? The development of the Hyper-car segment has caused a huge rift between the two categories of SuperCars and Hyper-cars. People believe that a Lamborghini or a basic Ferrari is termed as a Hyper-car. Well this study will clear out this misbelief and help readers understand the true meaning of Hyper-cars by providing a benchmark that separates a Hyper-car from a SuperCar.

Previous generations of SuperCars such as the McLaren F1, Ferrari Enzo, Porsche 959, etc. have set the boundaries of cutting edge technology in the nineties and were the fastest during their time (Campbell, n.d.). In today’s world, these SuperCars are known for their iconic stance and have gone up in value due to their rarity. But, the car that opened the automotive industry to new strides was the Bugatti Veyron in 2005 (Sorokanich, 2016). With its price tag of more than a million dollars, it was the first Hyper-car to set the record of the highest value production, street legal automobile. As a result, many automotive manufacturers have taken advantage of this new segment and have developed their class of road legal Hyper-cars with innovative technology from their racing pedigrees (Shukla, 2016).

While there is no exact definition of Hyper-cars, one can describe it as “rockets on four wheels with sleek bodies” (Dichoso, 2017). Alex Roy, an automotive journalist, has provided his insight of what the Hyper-car is and according to him, it is simply “an expression of the automotive form of tomorrow being developed today” (Sorokanich, 2016).

Chris Harris, a well-known automotive journalist, mentioned that Hyper-cars are expensive to produce. This is because, Hyper-car manufacturers have to combine intellect and ego to produce a brilliant performance of art, which can only be viewed by many but owned by the lucky few. He went on to say that Hyper-cars are magnetic objects which are extremely attractive, just like space shuttles and fighter jets, and they represent the ultimate expression of what humans can do with the materials that they dig out from the ground (Sorokanich, 2016).

In conclusion, Hyper-cars are known for their forward line of technology, exquisite design and are extremely expensive. However, due to the advancement of SuperCars and their high-end performance, the qualifications for a Hyper-car status have become stricter. As a result, with the help of this background on the difference between Hyper-cars and SuperCars, a clearer investigation can be provided in this dissertation on a benchmark that separates the two.