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Feast for car lovers hits the city
By WANG CHAO and CUI HAIPEI (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-26 08:12
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Mercedes-Benz launched its new car, SLS AMG, at Auto China 2010 on Friday. [Photos by WANG JING / China Daily] |
Car enthusiasts are in for a treat with some of the world's best and most expensive cars at the Auto China 2010 exhibition.
The show, which opened at the new China International Exhibition Center on Friday, run until May 2.
The newest vehicles from around the world are on show, giving buyers of the ever-growing elite car market an eyeful.
Some of Europe's top luxury carmakers will make their presence felt, with exhibits that will make the enthusiast's mouth water.
About the most expensive car at the show will be the 736-kilowatt Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, which has a price tag of 13.4 million yuan. The Veyron is powered by a W16 engine that can power the car to more than 400 km/h and accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in just 2.5 seconds.
But there will be cheaper cars on show, including the latest Rolls-Royce Ghost and the Ferrari 458 Italia. Each will sell for about 4 million yuan. And if your budget can't quite stretch to that, there will be the Porsche 911 Turbo S, Bentley Continental Suportsport and the Maserati GranCabrio, all estimated to cost around the 3 million mark.
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Last month, more than 200 luxury cars were sold from the dealers - the biggest auto market in Beijing - including 52 Mercedes-Benz S-class, 40 BMW 7-series and 56 Audi Q7 and Q5 SUVs. In addition, 73 Porsches were sold.
Cars that are energy saving and emit lower levels of carbon are getting increasingly popular, he said.
"Diesel vehicles are gradually being accepted by the market, and imported diesel cars such as the Volkswagan Touareg 3.0TDI, Audi Q7 3.0TDI and Land Rover Freelander 2.2L have sold very well," he said.
Statistics from Ernst & Young Consulting show that the high-end car market in China will keep increasing by 10 percent every year.
Sales of high-end Audis in China now make up 20 percent of the company's global sales.
In the first quarter of 2010, Audi sold 51,449 cars in China, an increase of 77 percent over the same period last year.
Li Dan, auto analyst of China Galaxy Securities Research, said luxury car sales "depend more on the increasing wealth of the customers".
"Since the start of the year, many people accumulated wealth quite easily due to the expanding real estate industry and have become willing to spend more on replacing their cars," Li said.
The China Luxury Goods Consumption Report, prepared by Nankai University, show that luxury goods consumers are different from their Western counterparts.
In China, more consumers buy luxury goods to show off, and to express their social status, but in Western countries, the rich buy show their personal preference.
Ji Sensen is such the Chinese elite. Ji, 42, recently spent three million yuan on a Mercedes-Benz S600.
"I bought it because I love the brand; but more importantly, it is a symbol of my financial strength," he said. "After I bought this car, my business did better than before."
