Porsche’s Panamera made a staggering debut at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 19, the shimmering new speedster drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd of wondering onlookers. In the first 30 minutes after its unveiling, 19 personal orders were placed for the model by well-heeled Chinese car buyers.
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>And well-heeled one will have to be to be able to take more than a look. Panamera’s prices in China are going to range from 1.6 million yuan for the "S" model to 2.5 million yuan for the more elite Turbo. The Shanghai Show was honored to be the venue of Panamera’s first appearance globally.
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It seems that each of the order-placers, from a group of 20 selected buyers organized as a sourcing group, is doing so to add to a personal collection, as each owns other luxury cars. Mr. Bu, a dealer in the telecoms industry, said he already had a BMW, a Porsche Cayenne, and a Bentley, but wanted to buy a Panamera to drive to work. He does not drive himself and will need a driver, so the four-door Paramera suits him well.
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Generous orders from the generously funded are getting to be common at domestic auto shows these years. He Jinbi, CEO of Maike Group, bought a Maybach at Shanghai Auto Show in 2007, the price tag coming in at nearly 7 million yuan, including tax and license. Having done very, very well as China’s major copper futures dealer in the copper boom in 2006 left him enough spare cash to pick one up.
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Auto shows enable serious car buyers to choose new cars from a wide range, as the Porsche sales representatives discovered. "We didn’t expect so many orders. We had been too conservative, due to the financial crisis," said one.
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An insider at Ferrari’s PR department revealed that although the first two days of the auto show were nominally open only to the media, luxury cars makers took the opportunity to invite the odd VIP to the show. "One of our 16M models, with a basic price of 5.118 million yuan, was ordered on the first day," he said. A Maserati insider said that many VIPs came to see cars and place orders even after the exhibition hall was closed, though he refused to disclose how many cars had been ordered.
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Usually, top luxury cars first appear at auto shows in China in advance of going on sale. This time an auto sourcing team was organized jointly by Porsche and Modern Gentleman magazine. After releasing advertisements, the magazine got over 1,000 applications, including from teenagers from rich families. "But we chose only 20 car buyers with verified purchasing plans," said Xu Qun, the chief editor of the magazine.
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"Sales of luxury cars have decreased since the adjustment of car purchasing tax last September," said Xu Qun. However, he thinks the real reason for the sales decline is not the tax adjustment but that the financial crisis has made even the rich a bit more rational. The many newly rich in China, who have previously been used to spreading their wealth around lavishly, are now taking more care about what they buy and how much they spend. This time the sourcing team mainly consisted of private enterprise owners, and companies�senior directors and the like.
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