- March 27, 2024
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The year-end bonus, especially for executives who seek to reward their top salespeople in a unique and creative way, is going luxury.
It comes in the form of super high-end cars, like a Lamborghini, a Rolls Royce or a Ferrari, through a new business, Sarasota-based Autoxotic. Launched by local entrepreneur Larry Starr, the firm provides short-term rentals of a variety of rare and exotic cars. The rentals, in many cases, are for three months.
Autoxotic also offers one-day rentals and other fractional ownership plans, says Fabio Ruiz, the director of operations. And it sells select cars, too.
But the company plans to partially grow through the three-month rentals, or what it calls “innovative ownership.” “Instead of giving a salesman a $30,000 or a $40,0000 bonus,” Ruiz tells Coffee Talk, “you can give him a Lamborghini for the summer.”
Autoxotic lists cars available under an innovative ownership page on its website. A 2013 Ferrari 458 Spider, which will be available June 1, according to the website, costs $444.45 a day — or $40,000 for three months. A 2013 McLaren Spider and a 2014 Rolls Royce Wraith are listed at the same price, though the Rolls won't be available until Nov. 1.
Starr, who runs companies in commercial real estate and resort properties, says he worked on the Autoxotic concept for two years. He officially launched the business late last year with the help of Ruiz, a 13-year veteran of Lamborghini dealerships in New York City, Miami and, most recently, Sarasota.
Starr says he hasn't done much marketing yet for Autoxotic, which has a tagline of “exotic vehicle ownership without the exotic expense.” Most of the customer interest so far has been word of mouth. But Starr expects to release a marketing initiative within the next few weeks.
“We're very excited about the opportunity here,” Starr tells Coffee Talk. “This is a fun business.”