The Quail bills itself as "A Motorsports Gathering," but it's really something more. Oh, sure, there are historic racing cars and other vintage classics on display, but with the event now in its 20th year, that focus clearly has changed, and today The Quail has emerged as a contemporary auto show.
It is not, however, a mainstream auto show, a dying medium that carmakers increasingly are fleeing. Big motor shows in the U.K., France, and Switzerland have been canceled , and others, such as Detroit, languish on life support. By contrast, The Quail has been embraced by automakers because it aligns perfectly with a key reality: The automobile business has entered a new Gilded Age.
We can identify two forces driving that trend, one longer-acting and one more recent. The more recent catalyst was the COVID pandemic. It caused supply shortages—particularly of the silicon chips that are critical to so many automotive systems—that spurred carmakers to craftily rejigger their offerings and production plans, focusing on high-dollar, high-margin vehicles to squeeze maximum profit from reduced output.
And it worked. Set that against an economic backdrop that has seen the richest members of society grow their wealth at a rate far outpacing everyone else, and you have turbocharged growth at the very highest echelon.Indeed, after electrification, the biggest trend in the new-car space is this increase in offerings at the very top of the market and a concurrent shift upmarket for the mainstream luxury brands.
To begin with, The Quail costs $1000 to get in, which begets a certain type of instant exclusivity. Children are few, while champagne, caviar, and costly togs are everywhere to be found.
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Source: NBCLA - 🏆 319. / 59 Read more »