Econometrix director and motor industry analyst Tony Twine said premium car sales increased by 44% over the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, with BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus leading the recovery of the industry.
Surprisingly, 54 Porsches were sold during March alone, while Maserati sold five cars and Lamborghini one.
"These were pretty typical performances," Twine said. "In good and bad times, luxury car sales are pretty similar. They never really change much. Even during the height of the recession, Porsche was selling 50 cars a month without fail."
Elsewhere, luxury cars have enjoyed similar good fortune.
In an interview with the Miami Herald in the US earlier this month, Bentley Americas president Christophe Georges said: ''At the end of the day, the biggest problem in this market category is confidence - and confidence has to come back.
''It's awfully hard to leave luxury once you're in luxury," said Rebecca Lindland, director of industry research at IHS Global Insight, in the same article.
''You just get used to projecting a certain image and you're used to a certain look in your vehicle, a certain touch and feel."
According to Twine, South African buyers of new vehicles - be they entry level or premium brands - are almost always high-income earners. "It's only the top half of LSM 10 that ever buys new cars," he said. "These are people who can buy new cars off the bat, while the rest of the population buys used cars."
Justin Divaris, chief executive of the Daytona Group, said the recently released Rolls-Royce Ghost was driving the company's growth.
Daytona is the exclusive dealer for Aston Martin in South Africa. It also owns Audi, BMW and Mini dealerships, as well as Ducati motorcycles.
"There's definitely a recovery this year, with more people placing deposits, especially for the new Ghost. We've already delivered five Ghosts out of the 12 ordered," Divaris said.
While there were still plenty of South Africans who could afford to buy multimillion-rand cars, they were looking for more value for money, he added.
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