There are few countries where it would make sense for a car owner to walk into a secondhand dealership and give away a BMW worth about NZ$75,000.
But desperate people caught in the whirlpool of Greece’s economic crisis would routinely offer their car keys to Andreas Basilopoulos at his showroom in Athens.
“They would say ‘I don’t want it, take it for nothing, here is the key’,” he said.
The Government imposed punitive taxes on luxury car ownership in 2010 and many Greeks responded by dumping their Mercedes sedans or Jeep Cherokees with the nearest dealer to avoid payments of tens of thousands of euros.
Now the currents within the whirlpool have turned again and it makes sense to buy expensive cars. Amid privation and despair, business at Basilopoulos’ showroom — where a 2006 Mercedes goes for NZ$30,000 and a 2011 BMW for NZ$54,000 — has made an improbable turn for the better.
In a country where banks are kept alive by a dripfeed of funds from Europe, Greeks are emptying their accounts and choosing to buy assets that might just retain their value. The number of new registrations for the luxury class of vehicle rose by 80 per cent in April, compared with the same month last year, according to the Association of Motor Vehicle Importers.
Mr Basilopoulos has seen the difference. He sold between 20 and 30 cars a month between January and May, compared with a monthly average of 10 in 2014.
But he laughs at any suggestion that his worries are over. After 20 years in the motor trade, he remembers the pre-crisis days when his monthly sale was 50 cars.
“It’s a big rise, but we were starting from almost nothing. It’s like saying if you go from three cars to six, that’s doubling your sale, but it’s still nothing.”
In another twist last week, the Government announced a review of the taxes on luxury cars. Mr Basilopoulos fears this statement alone will nip the recovery of his business in the bud.
In another dealership nearby, sales have also risen by between 10 and 20 per cent since last year. Zalmas Tasos, the manager of Angel Auto, put this down to the discounts on offer for luxury brands.
“Many cars were above €100,000 ($153,000) and now we sell them for €20,000 or €30,000. There are still rich people who can afford to buy expensive cars, and this is a very big opportunity for them,” he said.
Mr Tasos added that the crisis had wiped out the middle-range customer.
At every level of Greek society, the whirlpool is creating losers — and the occasional winner. Abandoned shops are everywhere in the graffiti-stained streets of central Athens, but cheap secondhand markets nearby are bustling with customers.
At the bottom, the hierarchy of the capital’s underworld has also changed. Once, impoverished children would gather on street corners, washing the windscreens of cars waiting at traffic lights or selling trinkets.
Now, jobless young men have taken on these tasks.
- Telegraph Group Ltd