Christie's Is Getting Back Into the Car Auction World in a Big Way

When it comes to high-profile auctions of high-end items, Christie’s is one of the biggest names out there. Depending on the event, you can bid on everything from works of art to sports memorabilia to noteworthy watches. Now, the company is set to make a big splash in the automotive world via the acquisition of Gooding & Company, an auction house focused on cars that will soon be known as Gooding Christie’s.

Christie’s had previously sold automobiles from 1972 to 2007, but shuttered its International Motor Cars division 17 years ago.

“When we founded Gooding & Company 21 years ago, we built it on the pillars of integrity, quality and passion within the collector car market,” said company founder David Gooding in a statement. “I am proud of our tremendous growth within this industry, and I am confident that our acquisition by Christie’s is the next step in our continued development as a global market leader in this space.”

There’s also a very pragmatic reason for Christie’s to acquire an auction house with this particular speciality. The art market has been experiencing fluctuations as of late, with The Art Newspaper‘s Tim Schneider reporting that Christie’s sales had dropped 22% in the first half of 2024 compared with the same period a year earlier. (That said, the full picture is a little more complex than that, and Schneider’s analysis is well worth reading in full.)

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Acquisitions like this don’t always feel like a win-win, but that’s how the industry seems to be reacting to the news about Gooding & Company’s new owners.

“Having other players at the top of their game fosters healthy competition and raises the standard across the industry,” RM Sotheby’s CEO Rob Myers told Bloomberg‘s Hannah Elliott. As Elliott pointed out, this is something of a homecoming for Gooding, who had previously worked for Christie’s in the 1990s.