Even with McLaren moving down-market and Porsche selling crossovers hand over fist, some automakers remain decidedly low-volume by nature and by design. But even a company like Pagani can reach new heights, and reach them it did last year.



The Modense supercar manufacturer doesn’t typically disclose exactly how many of its seven-figure exotics it sells or builds on an ongoing basis. But it has revealed that 2017 constituted a record year for its turnover.

29 percent more than 2016, in fact. And next year will be even busier: “We anticipate 2018 to be the busiest and the most rewarding year, with the delivery of 40 new vehicles to their respective owners,” said Horacio Pagani. “We do not have plans to expand our new-car production capacity beyond 40 units, but strive to offer more services to the loyal members of our Pagani family of customers and giving them all our attention.”

To mark its success, Pagani will bring two cars to the Geneva Motor Show next month: a US-spec Huayra Roadster, and the one-of-a-kind Zonda HP Barchetta showcased at Pebble Beach last summer. The point is to showcase the range of possibilities open to the company’s affluent clientele.

Pagani isn’t the only exotic automaker to post record results in 2017. Both McLaren and Lamborghini achieved better results than ever before, while Aston Martin reached a nine-year high. But those figures were counted in the thousands. Manufacturers like Pagani count theirs by the dozen, at most.

Bugatti produced 70 Chirons last year at its factory in Molsheim, France. Meanwhile their mutual rival Koenigsegg has to ramp up production to about 20-25 per year in order to keep up with demand and cut weighting times.