Sri Lanka registered 20 brand-new premium vehicles in July while pre-owned premium registrations fell to 95 units, Hiru News reported, pointing to a moderation in demand at the top end of the motor market.
The two figures give a combined premium total of 115 units for the month. That is down from 147 in June — a fall of 32 units, or roughly 22% — according to the corresponding June instalment of the monthly registration analysis compiled by the Colombo brokerage JB Securities and reported by Daily FT. Brand-new premium registrations had been 26 in June and pre-owned 121.
German marques lead a smaller market
Mercedes-Benz remained the leading premium marque in July with 49 registrations across brand-new and pre-owned vehicles, followed by Audi with 32, BMW with 19 and Lexus with 11. Each of the four recorded fewer registrations than in June, when the same brands logged 59, 43, 27 and 12 respectively.
The four marques together account for 111 of July’s 115 premium registrations, or about 97% of the segment — close to the 96% they held in June, indicating the contraction was broad rather than concentrated in one brand.
Individual registrations during July included two Porsche Macans, a Cayenne and a Taycan, a Mercedes-Benz Maybach S580, five G-Class SUVs, a Bentley Flying Spur, a Ferrari 488 GTB, a Lamborghini Temerario and a Lamborghini Urus.
A revenue line, not just a status symbol
Tax rates on high-end vehicles frequently exceed 200% of import value, meaning the segment generates government revenue well out of proportion to its unit volume. The same point was made in the June analysis, which noted that purchases of high-end vehicles continue to generate substantial state revenue.
The wider passenger market softened alongside it. SUV and crossover registrations declined to 4,439 units in July from 5,933 in June, a drop of about 25%, with both brand-new and pre-owned registrations weakening. The segment had been the strongest-performing passenger category in June, when it rose from 5,511 in May.
The July figures follow exceptionally strong volumes recorded earlier in the year. No other verified newsroom had published the July premium data at the time of writing.
