Cars To China's Countryside: Bugatti, Maybach, Bentley, Lamborghini, Maserati, Rolls Royce

Ever heard of a Chinese city by the name of Ordos? Neither have I, and it’s my sixth year in China by now. Google maps says it is in Inner Mongolia, China, halfway between the buzzing cities of Hohot and Yinchuan. Ordos just started its 2010 International Auto Show, going from September 30 to October 4. And what do they sell there, you ask, ox carts?

Prepare to be blown away.

An all-new Bugatti Veyron worth $5.7m (including tax, title and registration in China) lasted less than an hour at the show in the hinterest of China’s hinterlands before it was sold. A $2.2m Maybach, two Lamborghinis, and five lesser Bentleys followed on the same day. Shen Qi, senior network development manager of Bentley China immediately announced that Bentley will open new dealerships in inner Mongolia in the next 18 months. Inner Mongolia is China’s Alaska – without the oil (but with a lot of coal.)

Ever heard of Chengdu? At the recently ended 2010 Chengdu Auto Show, 317 luxury cars were sold, some worth millions of dollars, along with of 5,326 other cars. Bentley cleared $6m at the show, selling three Bentley Mulsannes, five Bentley Continentals, and an unspecified number of Bentley Continental Flying Spurs. Eight Lamborghinis, Rolls Royce and Aston Martin cars, were sold also.

What’s going on? Aren’t the rich people living in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou? Not true. According to McKinsey& Co, by 2015, 75 percent of China’s rich will live in China’s second- and third-tier cities.

Goldman Sachs also predicted that the number of luxury consumers in China will grow from the current 40 million to 160 million in the next five years, with a majority of these people living in the second- and third-tier cities.

Sales of luxury brands such as Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls Royce, etc. are growing rapidly in China’s second- and third-tier cities like Tianjin, Ordos, Xi’an, Dalian, Xiamen, Chongqing. China’s booming economy has provided more people with opportunities to amass enormous wealth, along with greater purchasing power, Global Times reports.

• Bentley wants to more than double its sales in China to 1,000 units in 2011.
• Rolls Royce saw its China sales surge 146 percent in the first five months.
• China was Maserati’s 4th largest market in the first quarter of this year. In the next few years, China is likely to become its second and even first market, Maserati figures.
• Lamborghini should have no problem achieving their sales target of 100 units for 2010.