After a little data-crunching, Cartell.ie, the vehicle history and data expert in this country, has revealed details of the shape of the luxury car landscape in Ireland. Taking all examples of cars from premium marques Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati and Porsche in the live fleet in Ireland, Cartell.ie surmised that the Porsche Panamera is the 'top luxury car in Ireland,' with 287 examples in the 1,184-vehicle total.
Porsche is the 'luxury' king in Ireland
In fact, Porsche locked out the first four places on the table. Following on from the Panamera are the Cayenne SUV, the smaller Macan SUV and the evergreen Porsche 911.
In fifth place is the Maserati Ghibli, competing with high-end examples of the BMW 5 Series. Then the next two spots are taken by Porsche again, by the Cayman and Boxster respectively.
The highest-placed Bentley is the Continental in eighth place (and the Flying Spur is just a few spots further down), while the DB11 is Aston Martin's most popular model here - though just seven are on the road. Ferrari's first appearance is in 15th place for the California, while we're told that there is also one example of the Ferrari Testarossa in use.
John Byrne, Cartell.ie, commented: "With so much uncertainty in the current market, it is interesting to see how many top-end luxury cars are in the country. Porsche leads the way with a variety of models and the avid car spotter has the chance to see a Ferrari Testarossa and a Ferrari 458 Italia among other super-lux vehicles in Ireland."
Where do they come from?
Unsurprisingly, given that, of the brands listed, only one has an official sales presence in the Republic of Ireland (Porsche), more than 56 per cent (667) of these cars have been imported. Cartell.ie also looked at when the luxury models first joined the Irish fleet. From a low of just 33 additions in 2011, the number of such vehicles increased significantly, to 228 in 2015, though figures have been declining ever since. Last year, there were just 91, though there were signs of a recovery at the start of this year until the coronavirus hit, as some 57 cars were added.