Market Intelligence
The Lion effect
The Aguttes sale on September 20th at the Musée de l’Aventure Peugeot in Sochaux, reserved for cars of the Peugeot and Citroën brands, was a success due to its evocative location and the historical value of the cars. The auction saw 44 cars sold out of 57 lots on offer, equivalent to 77.19% and total sales of €1,033,440. The most expensive car sold was a 1969 Citroën DS21 Cabriolet, sold for €246,300. Other noteworthy sales included a 1995 Peugeot TULIP concept car sold for €8,700, a Citroën C2 V6 Sbarro sold for €33,900, and a 1996 Peugeot 306 S16 sold for €17,700. Despite being a "small local" sale, the event was considered successful.
There are three qualities that make a good auction a success: location, location, location. The Aguttes sale on 20thSeptember hit all three fair and square; the auction was held in Sochaux at the headquarters of the Musée de l’Aventure Peugeot and was reserved for cars of this brand as well as Citroën (which is part of the PSA Group and, shortly, Stellantis). Many of the cars were photographed for the catalogue from within the museum’s storage facility (where the cars that are not on display are stored) and there is no denying that this small detail added significant value to the event. Then the setting of the sale was decidedly evocative because it was reminiscent of picking up a car from the factory, there’s nothing better.
So what? Although Aguttes was a name known only to the most hardcore connoisseurs of the market (mostly French), and despite the fact that both the catalogue and the auction was completely in French and that Peugeot and Citroën are not the most appealing brands on the market, the sale went very well indeed. With 44 cars sold out of 57 lots on offer, equivalent to 77.19% and total sales of €1,033,440 compared to €1,386,000 on offer (74.53%), these numbers place the “small local” sale within the realm of the big-league players.
With an auction organized at the Museum of the parent company, it is easy to assume that there were some real gems on offer. I have chosen three but they were by no means the only ones.
