The world's most expensive cars

The auto industry may have fallen considerably this year, but that doesn't mean those who can afford to spend six- or seven-figure sums on a luxury vehicle are lacking options.

Behind the numbersTo compile our list of the most expensive cars this year, we reviewed price lists from all the ultra-luxury automakers that had the potential to produce a contender this year for the top spot, including Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, Leblanc, Maserati, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, Pagani, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Saleen, Shelby SuperCars and Spyker.

We narrowed our terms for the list by choosing only cars that are currently in production and street legal, which eliminated the discontinued $653,000 Enzo Ferrari, $585,000 Saleen S7 and $500,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster, among others. Prices do not include taxes; some prices have been converted from euros to dollars. And not all of the vehicles on our list are sold in the U.S.

It's been a mixed bag this year for purveyors of ultra-luxury cars. Maybach sold 12 cars last month - the same amount it sold in July of this year. Rolls-Royce sold twice that, up 50 percent over July. Ferrari, Maserati and Bentley saw relatively routine year-over-year declines of 10 percent, 31 percent and 43 percent, respectively. But all of them except Rolls are down more than 50% in a year when the total auto industry saw a comparatively small 28 percent decrease year-to-date.

When sales do bounce back, expect luxury cars to recover slower than traditional segments. Lincoln Merrihew, the managing director of automotive, petroleum and travel for Compete, a unit of the market research firm TNS, says the delayed recovery is due in part to the fact that these cars never see Cash for Clunkers-type incentives. They also have a shelf-life that matters: The difference between one model year and another is significant for collectors and connoisseur-investors, who notice even the most minute changes in body styling, horsepower or interior trappings.

But more than anything, even people who can afford to buy a $1.5 million Lamborghini Reventon LINK are going to think about just when and how to make the purchase, if at all, Merrihew says.