Porsche's cut is uneven. Total deliveries fell 16%, but the 911 rose 12%, while the 718 fell 79% as it went out of production.
Back to the trend of the day: Porsche shows a new dream car that will cost more than a 911
Poly Rating · from the trend of the day
Porsche Sales Drop 2026: Who Sells Fewer Cars but Profits
Ferrari shipped 4% fewer cars in the first half of 2026 and still raised operating profit 5% to €1.15bn, while Porsche, down 16% over nine months, made about €1,480 per car in 2025 against Ferrari's roughly €155,000.
- No. 1: Ferrari
- 10 places
01Final list
The leading AIs each built their own list of ten independently. Here is one result that is easy to check: every place has a reason, a source, and the list of AIs that included it.
A bright badge means this AI put the entry on its list. A dim badge means it did not.
- 1
Ferrari
Shipments fell 4% in H1 2026, yet EBIT rose to €1.15bn: about €154,700 per car in 2025. Other figures quoted (€223,680, €136,700) don't match the filing.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiMo. Did not include: Meta, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 1 · ChatGPT: 1 · Gemini: 1 · Kimi: 1 · DeepSeek: 1 · MiMo: 1
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 1
Shipments fell 4% in H1 2026 (6,802 vs 7,087), yet EBIT rose 5% to €1.15bn. That is about €155,000 of operating profit per car for 2025.
- ChatGPTplace 1
In the first half of 2026, shipments fell 4%, yet EBIT rose 5% to €1.15 billion.
- Geminiplace 1
Ferrari generates roughly €136,700 in operating profit on every car it builds—six times more than Porsche—by capping global deliveries near 13,500 units.
- Kimiplace 1
Shipped 4% fewer cars in H1 2026 on purpose, hit a 31.2% operating margin, raised guidance — and its order book already covers all of 2027.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 1
Sells fewer than 14,000 cars a year and earns €223,680 on each one — more than Porsche earns on twenty cars combined.
- MiMoplace 1
About €154,700 of operating profit per car in 2025 — fewer, dearer, and nobody else is close
Source ↗
6 AIs put it here - 2
Lamborghini
Deliveries down 4.6% in H1 2026 while revenue hit a record €1.74bn. It still earned about €71,500 per car in 2025, though its margin slipped to 22.7%.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiMo. Did not include: Meta, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 2 · ChatGPT: 2 · Gemini: 2 · Kimi: 2 · DeepSeek: 2 · MiMo: 2
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 2
H1 2026 deliveries fell 4.6% to 5,422 while revenue rose 7.4% to €1.74bn. Lamborghini made about €71,500 of operating profit per car in 2025.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 2
Its 8,000 nine-month deliveries were almost flat, while the latest half-year still produced a 22.7% operating margin.
Source ↗ - Geminiplace 2
Lamborghini converts platform sharing into luxury gold, generating over €75,000 per vehicle on an operating margin topping 26%.
- Kimiplace 2
Delivered 4.6% fewer cars in H1 2026 and still posted the highest half-year revenue in its history — the 'fewer but dearer' playbook working in real time.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 2
Delivered 4.6% fewer cars yet posted record revenue of €1.74 billion — the art of selling scarcity at scale.
Source ↗ - MiMoplace 2
259 fewer cars in H1 2026 — and the highest half-year revenue in the brand's history
Source ↗
6 AIs put it here - 3
Bentley
Still profitable, at about €21,300 per car in 2025, but nine-month volume fell 17.5% and the H1 2026 margin shrank to 4.5%. That looks more like a retreat than a choice.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiMo. Did not include: Meta, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 3 · ChatGPT: 5 · Gemini: 3 · Kimi: 6 · DeepSeek: 4 · MiMo: 4
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 3
Bentley delivered 5% fewer cars in 2025 but revenue slipped only 1%. Even so, operating profit fell 42% to €216m.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 5
Nine-month volume fell 17.5%; its first-half operating margin had already narrowed to 4.5%.
Source ↗ - Geminiplace 3
Even as global deliveries retreated 10% to 10,600 cars, Mulliner bespoke options maintained an operating profit of €35,188 per unit and a 14.1% margin.
- Kimiplace 6
From a €398m half-year operating profit in 2022 to a reported €40m in H1 2026 — an 88% collapse, with Q1 2026 tipping into a €26m operating loss.
- DeepSeekplace 4
Sold 5% fewer cars but kept revenue almost flat — Mulliner bespoke builds are the margin engine.
Source ↗ - MiMoplace 4
€216 million of operating profit in 2025 — the seventh profitable year in a row
Source ↗
6 AIs put it here - 4
Rolls-Royce
Nine-month deliveries fell 12.4% to 3,592, and the brand is leaning harder on bespoke and 100-car coachbuilt cars. BMW does not publish its profit, so whether it 'keeps the money' can't be checked.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiMo. Did not include: Meta, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 4 · ChatGPT: 3 · Gemini: 4 · Kimi: 5 · DeepSeek: 5 · MiMo: 3
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 4
Its Cullinan SUV made up 58% of 2025 volume (3,291 cars). A secondary brief puts the first nine months of 2026 down 12.4%, at 3,592 cars.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 3
Deliveries fell 12.4% through September, while the brand continued pushing individually commissioned cars.
- Geminiplace 4
Strictly limiting output to roughly 6,000 cars a year drove average invoice prices past €500,000, insulating profit from volume declines.
- Kimiplace 5
Nine-month deliveries fell 12.4% to 3,592 — while the marque announced Project Nightingale, a 100-car all-electric Coachbuild Collection.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 5
The original ‘fewer, dearer’ brand: no volume targets, no discounts, just waiting lists — and a €3,142 EBIT per car across BMW Group.
- MiMoplace 3
5,664 cars a year — and one of them in two is a half-million-dollar SUV
Source ↗
6 AIs put it here - 5
Porsche
Down 16% over nine months and 33% in China, while the 911 rose 12%. It earned €1,480 per car in 2025 at group level, or just €322 on automotive profit alone.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiMo. Did not include: Meta, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 5 · ChatGPT: 4 · Gemini: 5 · Kimi: 3 · DeepSeek: 3 · MiMo: 5
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 5
Deliveries fell 16% in nine months, but the 911 rose 12%. Porsche earned about €1,480 per car in 2025, against Ferrari's roughly €155,000.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 4
The 911 gained 12% through September even as Porsche as a whole lost 16%; its profit recovery is still younger than its new strategy.
Source ↗ - Geminiplace 5
Porsche's 9-month deliveries dropped 16% globally—dragged down by a 33% plunge in China—yet flagship 911 sales jumped 12% under its 'Value over Volume' pivot.
- Kimiplace 3
Deliveries fell 16% to 178,532 in nine months, yet the 911 rose 12% — and the same week it unveiled the Mission S, a ~€500k supercar above the 911.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 3
The most explicit ‘fewer, dearer’ plan in the industry — and the most painful: 178,532 cars delivered, down 16%, with a 7.8% first-half margin.
Source ↗ - MiMoplace 5
Deliveries down 16% in nine months, yet H1 operating profit rose 34% to €1.35 billion
Source ↗
6 AIs put it here - 6
Mercedes-AMG
Mercedes is moving money into AMG, Maybach and G-Class, but Top-End sales fell 12% to 173,500 by September. AMG profit is not published.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiMo. Did not include: Meta, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 6 · ChatGPT: 7 · Gemini: 7 · Kimi: 7 · DeepSeek: 7 · MiMo: 10
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 6
Top-End sales fell 21% to 53,900 in Q3 2026, faster than the core range (-6%). The Top-End bet is not shielding Mercedes from China.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 7
AMG delivered about 145,000 cars in 2025, but Mercedes' broader Top-End category was down 12% through September 2026.
Source ↗ - Geminiplace 7
Mercedes explicitly axed entry-level compact investments to focus 60% of capital on AMG, Maybach and G-Class, cushioning an overall 5% volume drop.
- Kimiplace 7
Group sales fell 6% in Q1 2026 and China dropped 27% — yet Maybach grew 34% in the US and the Top-End segment held its 15% share of all sales.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 7
Part of Mercedes’ push to cut entry models and raise AMG/Maybach mix — but AMG still sells over 100,000 cars a year.
- MiMoplace 10
From F1-engined Project ONE halo to an electric GT XX — upmarket is now a powertrain bet
Source ↗
6 AIs put it here - 7
BMW M
The biggest volume here: 148,510 M cars in nine months, down 6.1% after a 2025 record. BMW has no M-specific 'fewer cars' plan and publishes no M profit.
Included it: ChatGPT, Kimi. Did not include: Claude, Meta, Gemini, DeepSeek, Wenxin, MiMo.In their lists: ChatGPT: 8 · Kimi: 8
2 AIs put it here - 8
Aston Martin
The reverse case: Valhalla lifted H1 2026 wholesales 21%, yet each car still loses money: about -£34,700 (adjusted EBIT) or -£47,600 (reported) in 2025.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiMo. Did not include: Meta, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 7 · ChatGPT: 9 · Gemini: 9 · Kimi: 4 · DeepSeek: 6 · MiMo: 6
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 7
The odd one out: H1 2026 wholesales rose 21% to 2,331 (Valhalla), yet 2025 still ended with a £189m adjusted EBIT loss, or about -£34,700 per car.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 9
Valhalla lifted first-half average selling price 17%, but core-model average price fell 5% and adjusted EBIT remained negative.
Source ↗ - Geminiplace 9
Despite selling cars with sticker prices averaging over £220,000, heavy debt servicing and launch bottlenecks caused a loss exceeding -$30,000 per car delivered.
- Kimiplace 4
Average selling price up 17% to £241k and wholesales up 21% on Valhalla deliveries — yet the half-year still closed with a £56.5m operating loss.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 6
Halved its sales ambitions and capped production at 7,000 cars — but is still losing money on every one.
- MiMoplace 6
Valhalla lifted ASP to £241k and gross margin to 34% — the operating line is still red
Source ↗
6 AIs put it here - 9
McLaren
Planned to cut output from about 3,000 cars to 2,000 to protect resale values, but it publishes no 2026 global sales or profit. The plan can't be tested yet.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Wenxin, MiMo.In their lists: Claude: 9 · ChatGPT: 6 · Gemini: 8 · Kimi: 10 · DeepSeek: 9
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 9
The plan is to go up the price list: McLaren is reported to be adding luxury SUVs after merging with Forseven, but no 2026 sales or profit figures could be found.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 6
Management aimed to cut output from roughly 3,000 cars to 2,000 to defend resale values; a public profit test is missing.
Source ↗ - Geminiplace 8
Now stabilized under Bahrain's Mumtalakat sovereign fund, McLaren pruned production volumes below 2,500 units to stop dealer floorplan discounting.
- Kimiplace 10
The outlier that didn't lose sales: US deliveries up 10% in H1 2026 — but at just 515 cars, the smallest player on this list still runs on exclusivity.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 9
Cut production to protect resale values after cumulative losses of $3 billion — now selling fewer cars than ever.
5 AIs put it here - 10
Maserati
Estimate: Losing both: about -€25,100 per car shipped in 2025 and H1 2026 registrations down 37%. The brand calls it intended, yet 60 of 86 US dealers reportedly sold nothing in a month.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, MiMo. Did not include: Meta, Wenxin.In their lists: Claude: 8 · ChatGPT: 10 · Gemini: 10 · Kimi: 9 · DeepSeek: 8 · MiMo: 8
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 8
Registrations fell 37% in H1 2026 (2,737 vs 4,366). Management calls the shrinkage intended, and 60 of 86 US dealers reportedly recorded no sales in early August.
Source ↗ - ChatGPTplace 10
Its 2025 adjusted operating loss was about €25,000 for each car shipped, and separate brand reporting ended in 2026.
- Geminiplace 10
Global shipments cratered by over 50% down to roughly 11,300 units, demonstrating how unmanaged volume losses collapse dealership networks rather than elevate luxury standing.
- Kimiplace 9
Registrations down 37% to 2,737 in H1 2026 — the brand says the crash is deliberate, while 60 of 86 US dealers reportedly sold zero cars in a single month.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 8
Sold 2,737 cars in H1 2026, down 37% — the most dramatic ‘fewer cars’ retreat, with a €840 million loss in 2025.
Source ↗ - MiMoplace 8
From about 51,500 cars in 2017 to 7,900 in 2025 — a retreat, not a strategy
Source ↗
6 AIs put it here
02Worth knowing
What the AIs noticed while building the list.
Bentley and Lamborghini report inside the same Audi group, yet their H1 2026 operating margins were 4.5% and 22.7%.
Porsche benchmarks Ferrari directly. It wants the average price of its 10,000 most expensive cars to rise from about €270k to €330k, against about €440k for Ferrari.
Porsche's 2025 profit per car depends on the scope used: €413m group operating profit, €90m automotive only, and Car and Driver's 'just $101 million'.
Ferrari's EBIT per car includes sponsorship, racing and brand income, so it is not profit on the car alone.
03Questions people ask
Are car sales declining?
At the premium end, yes in 2026. Porsche deliveries fell 16% in nine months and BMW Group's fell 4.9%, with China the main drag (Porsche -33%). Global car sales still grew 3.5% in 2025.
Source ↗How much profit does a car dealership make per car?
Haig Partners puts front-end gross profit per new vehicle at $2,881 for big US public dealer groups in Q1 2026. That is before expenses and far below what carmakers like Ferrari earn per car.
Source ↗Why do sources disagree on Ferrari's profit per car?
The filing gives €2.11bn EBIT on 13,640 cars, about €154,700 each. Other sites quote €223,680 or about €130,000, using other years, net profit or other definitions.
Is Porsche's sales drop a strategy or a retreat?
Both. Deliveries fell 16% and the 2025 margin was 1.1% after €3.9bn of charges, but the H1 2026 margin recovered to 7.8% and the new plan targets break-even below 200,000 cars.
Source ↗04How we counted
In plain words, no formulas.
1The question
Top 10 Carmakers Betting on Fewer, Pricier Cars: Who Loses Sales but Keeps the Money
2Why this topic
The reader sees, in one place, which luxury carmakers are selling fewer cars but still making money and which are losing both, something no single company report or sales table shows.
3Where it applies
Global premium, luxury and sports-car makers (Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Rolls-Royce, Maserati and others)
4What we looked at
- Change in deliveries over the first nine months of 2026 against the first nine months of 2025
- Operating profit per car delivered in the latest reporting year (automotive operating profit divided by deliveries)
- Operating margin as each maker reports it
- Whether the maker has a stated plan to cut volume or move upmarket, and how far along that plan is
- Porsche AG delivery release — Porsche cars delivered in January–September 2026 against 2025, by model and region
- Volkswagen Group nine-month deliveries — Bentley and Lamborghini deliveries for January–September 2026 against 2025, rounded
- Ferrari N.V. filings (SEC) — 2025 and H1 2026 shipments, EBIT and EBIT margin. Nine-month 2026 figures are not out yet.
- Audi Group annual report and half-year update — Bentley and Lamborghini deliveries, revenue, operating profit and margin for 2025 and H1 2026
5Who ranked
The leading AIs, each building its own list of ten independently and naming a source for every place: Claude, ChatGPT, Meta, Gemini, Kimi, DeepSeek, Wenxin, MiMo.
6How the places were set
The same entry written differently by different AIs was counted as one. The more AIs put an entry on their list, and the higher they put it, the higher its place. "AI agreement" shows how many of the AIs had it on their own list. Sources are only those the AIs found themselves; nothing was added by hand.
05Each AI's own list
🇺🇸 Claude10 places · 4 notes
The same question, answered by Claude alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Ferrari
Shipments fell 4% in H1 2026 (6,802 vs 7,087), yet EBIT rose 5% to €1.15bn. That is about €155,000 of operating profit per car for 2025.
- 2Lamborghini
H1 2026 deliveries fell 4.6% to 5,422 while revenue rose 7.4% to €1.74bn. Lamborghini made about €71,500 of operating profit per car in 2025.
Source ↗ - 3Bentley
Bentley delivered 5% fewer cars in 2025 but revenue slipped only 1%. Even so, operating profit fell 42% to €216m.
Source ↗ - 4Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Its Cullinan SUV made up 58% of 2025 volume (3,291 cars). A secondary brief puts the first nine months of 2026 down 12.4%, at 3,592 cars.
Source ↗ - 5Porsche (911, Cayenne and Mission S plan)
Deliveries fell 16% in nine months, but the 911 rose 12%. Porsche earned about €1,480 per car in 2025, against Ferrari's roughly €155,000.
Source ↗ - 6Mercedes-Benz (AMG, Maybach, G-Class 'Top-End')
Top-End sales fell 21% to 53,900 in Q3 2026, faster than the core range (-6%). The Top-End bet is not shielding Mercedes from China.
Source ↗ - 7Aston Martin
The odd one out: H1 2026 wholesales rose 21% to 2,331 (Valhalla), yet 2025 still ended with a £189m adjusted EBIT loss, or about -£34,700 per car.
Source ↗ - 8Maserati
Registrations fell 37% in H1 2026 (2,737 vs 4,366). Management calls the shrinkage intended, and 60 of 86 US dealers reportedly recorded no sales in early August.
Source ↗ - 9McLaren
The plan is to go up the price list: McLaren is reported to be adding luxury SUVs after merging with Forseven, but no 2026 sales or profit figures could be found.
Source ↗ - 10Lotus
Sports-car deliveries stood still at 896 in H1 2026 while SUVs rose 57%, so Lotus is moving towards volume. It lost $151m net in the half.
What Claude noticed
The same strategy gives opposite results. Ferrari made about €155,000 of operating profit per car in 2025 on a 29.5% margin. Porsche made about €1,480 per car on 1.1%, after roughly €3.9bn of one-off charges.
Porsche's total fell 16% while the 911 rose 12% to 42,217 and the 718 fell 79% as it ended. The cut is not even: the sports-car core is growing and the volume lines are shrinking.
Lamborghini's H1 2026 deliveries fell 4.6% while revenue rose 7.4%, so each car brought in about 12% more money. Its order backlog is roughly a year.
Porsche has shown the Mission S concept, a car above the 911. Handelsblatt reportedly suggested about €500,000 before the reveal. Porsche aims to raise average prices on top models by about 20% over the medium term.
🇺🇸 ChatGPT10 places · 2 notes
The same question, answered by ChatGPT alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Ferrari
In the first half of 2026, shipments fell 4%, yet EBIT rose 5% to €1.15 billion.
- 2Lamborghini
Its 8,000 nine-month deliveries were almost flat, while the latest half-year still produced a 22.7% operating margin.
Source ↗ - 3Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Deliveries fell 12.4% through September, while the brand continued pushing individually commissioned cars.
- 4Porsche
The 911 gained 12% through September even as Porsche as a whole lost 16%; its profit recovery is still younger than its new strategy.
Source ↗ - 5Bentley
Nine-month volume fell 17.5%; its first-half operating margin had already narrowed to 4.5%.
Source ↗ - 6McLaren Automotive
Management aimed to cut output from roughly 3,000 cars to 2,000 to defend resale values; a public profit test is missing.
Source ↗ - 7Mercedes-AMG
AMG delivered about 145,000 cars in 2025, but Mercedes' broader Top-End category was down 12% through September 2026.
Source ↗ - 8BMW M
After a 2025 record of 213,449 deliveries, BMW M was down 6.1% through September 2026.
Source ↗ - 9Aston Martin
Valhalla lifted first-half average selling price 17%, but core-model average price fell 5% and adjusted EBIT remained negative.
Source ↗ - 10Maserati
Its 2025 adjusted operating loss was about €25,000 for each car shipped, and separate brand reporting ended in 2026.
What ChatGPT noticed
Porsche's 2025 automotive operating profit was just €90 million; its H1 2026 Group margin recovered to 7.8%, but the newly announced 10–15% medium-term aim is still unproved.
Bentley and Lamborghini sit in the same Audi reporting group, yet their H1 2026 operating margins were 4.5% and 22.7%.
🇺🇸 Gemini10 places
The same question, answered by Gemini alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Ferrari N.V. (Italy)
Ferrari generates roughly €136,700 in operating profit on every car it builds—six times more than Porsche—by capping global deliveries near 13,500 units.
- 2Automobili Lamborghini (Italy / VW Group)
Lamborghini converts platform sharing into luxury gold, generating over €75,000 per vehicle on an operating margin topping 26%.
- 3Bentley Motors (UK / VW Group)
Even as global deliveries retreated 10% to 10,600 cars, Mulliner bespoke options maintained an operating profit of €35,188 per unit and a 14.1% margin.
- 4Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (UK / BMW Group)
Strictly limiting output to roughly 6,000 cars a year drove average invoice prices past €500,000, insulating profit from volume declines.
- 5Porsche AG (Germany)
Porsche's 9-month deliveries dropped 16% globally—dragged down by a 33% plunge in China—yet flagship 911 sales jumped 12% under its 'Value over Volume' pivot.
- 6Bugatti Rimac (France / Croatia)
Delivering fewer than 100 hypercars per year at €3.8 million apiece makes Bugatti immune to mainstream volume slumps, with output sold out through 2028.
- 7Mercedes-AMG / Mercedes-Benz Group (Germany)
Mercedes explicitly axed entry-level compact investments to focus 60% of capital on AMG, Maybach and G-Class, cushioning an overall 5% volume drop.
- 8McLaren Automotive (UK)
Now stabilized under Bahrain's Mumtalakat sovereign fund, McLaren pruned production volumes below 2,500 units to stop dealer floorplan discounting.
- 9Aston Martin Lagonda (UK)
Despite selling cars with sticker prices averaging over £220,000, heavy debt servicing and launch bottlenecks caused a loss exceeding -$30,000 per car delivered.
- 10Maserati / Stellantis (Italy)
Global shipments cratered by over 50% down to roughly 11,300 units, demonstrating how unmanaged volume losses collapse dealership networks rather than elevate luxury standing.
🇨🇳 Kimi10 places · 3 notes
The same question, answered by Kimi alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Ferrari 2026
Shipped 4% fewer cars in H1 2026 on purpose, hit a 31.2% operating margin, raised guidance — and its order book already covers all of 2027.
Source ↗ - 2Lamborghini 2026
Delivered 4.6% fewer cars in H1 2026 and still posted the highest half-year revenue in its history — the 'fewer but dearer' playbook working in real time.
Source ↗ - 3Porsche sales drop 2026
Deliveries fell 16% to 178,532 in nine months, yet the 911 rose 12% — and the same week it unveiled the Mission S, a ~€500k supercar above the 911.
Source ↗ - 4Aston Martin 2026
Average selling price up 17% to £241k and wholesales up 21% on Valhalla deliveries — yet the half-year still closed with a £56.5m operating loss.
Source ↗ - 5Rolls-Royce Motor Cars 2026
Nine-month deliveries fell 12.4% to 3,592 — while the marque announced Project Nightingale, a 100-car all-electric Coachbuild Collection.
Source ↗ - 6Bentley 2026
From a €398m half-year operating profit in 2022 to a reported €40m in H1 2026 — an 88% collapse, with Q1 2026 tipping into a €26m operating loss.
- 7Mercedes-Benz Top-End (AMG, Maybach) 2026
Group sales fell 6% in Q1 2026 and China dropped 27% — yet Maybach grew 34% in the US and the Top-End segment held its 15% share of all sales.
Source ↗ - 8BMW M 2026
The biggest 'fewer, dearer' player by volume: 148,510 M cars delivered in nine months, down 6.1% — stable everywhere except China.
Source ↗ - 9Maserati sales decline 2026
Registrations down 37% to 2,737 in H1 2026 — the brand says the crash is deliberate, while 60 of 86 US dealers reportedly sold zero cars in a single month.
Source ↗ - 10McLaren 2026
The outlier that didn't lose sales: US deliveries up 10% in H1 2026 — but at just 515 cars, the smallest player on this list still runs on exclusivity.
Source ↗
What Kimi noticed
Porsche's operating profit per car collapsed from roughly €18,100 in 2024 to about €1,480 in 2025 (derived from its own annual figures) — the 'fewer but dearer' pivot at Porsche is as much triage as strategy, though H1 2026 margin recovered to 7.8%.
Lamborghini's H1 2026 is the strategy in one line: deliveries -4.6%, revenue +7.4% to a record €1.74bn, operating margin 22.7% — while the luxury segment it competes in shrank 7.7%.
Aston Martin proves higher prices alone don't fix a business: ASP rose 17% to £241k and gross margin hit 34%, yet H1 2026 still closed with a £56.5m operating loss and £1.54bn of net debt.
🇨🇳 DeepSeek10 places · 2 notes
The same question, answered by DeepSeek alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Ferrari
Sells fewer than 14,000 cars a year and earns €223,680 on each one — more than Porsche earns on twenty cars combined.
- 2Lamborghini
Delivered 4.6% fewer cars yet posted record revenue of €1.74 billion — the art of selling scarcity at scale.
Source ↗ - 3Porsche
The most explicit ‘fewer, dearer’ plan in the industry — and the most painful: 178,532 cars delivered, down 16%, with a 7.8% first-half margin.
Source ↗ - 4Bentley
Sold 5% fewer cars but kept revenue almost flat — Mulliner bespoke builds are the margin engine.
Source ↗ - 5Rolls-Royce
The original ‘fewer, dearer’ brand: no volume targets, no discounts, just waiting lists — and a €3,142 EBIT per car across BMW Group.
- 6Aston Martin
Halved its sales ambitions and capped production at 7,000 cars — but is still losing money on every one.
- 7Mercedes-AMG
Part of Mercedes’ push to cut entry models and raise AMG/Maybach mix — but AMG still sells over 100,000 cars a year.
- 8Maserati
Sold 2,737 cars in H1 2026, down 37% — the most dramatic ‘fewer cars’ retreat, with a €840 million loss in 2025.
Source ↗ - 9McLaren
Cut production to protect resale values after cumulative losses of $3 billion — now selling fewer cars than ever.
- 10Bugatti Rimac
The ultimate fewer-but-dearer play: 136 cars delivered in 2025, but revenue more than doubled to €860 million.
What DeepSeek noticed
Porsche’s 911 was a rare bright spot in its 2026 collapse, up 12%, while the 718 Boxster and Cayman fell 79% after production ended — a reminder that ‘fewer, dearer’ works only when the ‘dearer’ model is the one people still want.
Lamborghini’s operating margin fell from 26.5% to 22.7% in H1 2026, hit by US tariffs, yet revenue still hit a record €1.74 billion — proof that fewer cars can still mean more money if the mix is right.
🇨🇳 MiMo10 places · 4 notes
The same question, answered by MiMo alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Ferrari
About €154,700 of operating profit per car in 2025 — fewer, dearer, and nobody else is close
Source ↗ - 2Lamborghini
259 fewer cars in H1 2026 — and the highest half-year revenue in the brand's history
Source ↗ - 3Rolls-Royce
5,664 cars a year — and one of them in two is a half-million-dollar SUV
Source ↗ - 4Bentley
€216 million of operating profit in 2025 — the seventh profitable year in a row
Source ↗ - 5Porsche
Deliveries down 16% in nine months, yet H1 operating profit rose 34% to €1.35 billion
Source ↗ - 6Aston Martin
Valhalla lifted ASP to £241k and gross margin to 34% — the operating line is still red
Source ↗ - 7Mercedes-Benz
Premium is only 13.2% of the mix — and that slice just fell 21% in China
Source ↗ - 8Maserati
From about 51,500 cars in 2017 to 7,900 in 2025 — a retreat, not a strategy
Source ↗ - 9BMW
US and Europe up, China down — the volume engine of 'premium' is splitting in two
Source ↗ - 10Mercedes-AMG
From F1-engined Project ONE halo to an electric GT XX — upmarket is now a powertrain bet
Source ↗
What MiMo noticed
Ferrari's 2025 maths is the outlier that proves the 'fewer but dearer' rule: about €154,700 of operating profit per car — roughly 14 times Porsche's H1 2026 rate per car — on a volume that actually fell slightly.
Lamborghini sold 4.6% fewer cars in H1 2026 and still posted the highest half-year revenue ever; the gap came from mix and Ad Personam personalisation, not volume. Margin still slipped on US tariffs and FX.
Porsche has published the fullest cut-and-go-up plan of anyone: break-even under 200,000 units, 9,000 jobs gone, ~20% fewer variants, +20% ASP on top models, and a new mid-engined supercar above the 911 (Mission S, shown 15 Oct 2026).
The same week Porsche showed a dream car above the 911, Tesla finally unveiled the 2017 Roadster concept's successor — proof that 'fewer, dearer' is now also a race over who can keep a long-hyped sports-car promise.