BEIJING - Sales of
luxury cars are booming in China, with the world's
top luxury-auto makers viewing the country as an
increasingly important market.
At the
Beijing Auto Show, which opened last week,
organizers set aside 4,000 square meters of space
for luxury cars, where top brands, including
Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce and Spyker,
are showcasing their new models.
On the
second day of the show, a Rolls-Royce Phantom on
display was bought for 6.6 million yuan
(US$838,681) and a
Bentley Arnage Mulliner sold
for 6.48 million yuan, the Beijing Morning Post
reported.
Last year Bentley sold 64 cars
on the Chinese mainland market, 30 of which were
Arnage models, with the minimum price 3.88 million
yuan.
Statistics show that Land Rover,
Jaguar and BMW also experienced surging sales in
China in 2005. Jaguar said sales in China rose by
220% in 2005 over the previous year. Land Rover
sold 1,415 vehicles in the Chinese market, up 107%
year on year. Mainland China has become the
fastest-growing market for BMW, which sold 23,595
cars in the country, up 52.4%.
China
imports more than 100,000 cars every year, most of
which cost more than $40,000, according to customs
figures. Import figures reached 147,000 cars,
valued at $4.84 billion, for the first eight
months this year, up 56.1% and 71.8% respectively
from the same period of 2005. The rise in unit
price shows that luxury cars are now a key import
sector.
Analysts say that every year top
brands, such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley, sell 20%
of their output in Asia, with mainland China being
the most buoyant market.
Some luxury-auto
makers, including DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Audi and
Volvo, have set up assembly lines in the country
to take advantage of lower production costs.
Volvo chief executive officer Fredrik Arp
predicts that five years from now the Chinese
market for luxury cars will develop to the point
that sales will be growing at an annual average
rate of 60%.
Sales of luxury sports cars
are booming in China, and the country is expected
to be Ferrari's fifth- or sixth-largest market in
three to five years, said Mirko Pietro Bordiga,
general manager of Ferrari China.
It is
estimated that only 5% of Chinese can currently
afford private cars, but that translates into 65
million people given the huge population.
Vehicle sales are expected to reach 7
million in 2006, including 4 million sedans and
320,000 luxury vehicles.
