Premium fast cars boom

Fast car fans have sent sales of imported high-performance cars skyrocketing in Australia this year.

Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have all seen their hot-rod divisions boom in 2014.

Sales of Audi’s S and RS lines leapt 114 per cent to the end of June this year and the quattro GmbH division has already outsold its total 2013 sales figure.

The first-half boom is a continuation of an existing trend, with the S and RS lines jumping 173 per cent from 2012 to 2013, leading the German brand to follow the UK in pioneering its new shop-in-shop 'Audi Sport Sales Concept' in Australia.

An Audi spokesman said the jump was helped by a product wave that saw the RS 4, R8, RS 6 and SQ5 all arrive in 2013.

But while Audi has seen the biggest jump in performance sales, it isn’t alone. The AMG division of Mercedes-Benz saw sales leap 66.3 per cent to the end of June this year, selling 1206 cars instead of the 725 it had moved to June 2013.

Along with the continued growth of larger AMG models led by the C 63 AMG, the growth has been spurred by the German hot-shop's first four-cylinder models in the A 45 and CLA 45, extra stocks of which have now been secured to reduce waiting lists for certain versions that stretched out into 2016.

A 29 per cent growth rate would normally be something to cheer about, but it leaves BMW’s M division trailing, and outsold by Audi’s S and RS lines at the rate of almost 3.5 to one.

While it sold only 395 M models, BMW is expecting a huge leap in M sales from this month, when the all-new M3 sedan and M4 coupe arrive in Australia.

But while sales of German performance cars are booming, the popularity of Aussie muscle cars also remains strong.

This year V8s have accounted for up to a third of all Commodore sales and HSV has produced more examples of its new GTS flagship than the entry-level ClubSport -- despite its near-$100,000 price tag.