Much like they have fuelled the local housing market over the past decade, wealthy Chinese immigrants are driving the sale of luxury cars in Vancouver with several high-end brands reporting their best years ever in Canada.
At the Luxury + Supercar Weekend, a high-end auto show featuring more than 150 million Canadian dollars (151.1 million U.S. dollars) worth of luxury and classic cars displayed in a local park, Jeff Lu, a sales consultant for Mercedes-Benz Canada, said sales of the German cars were booming with a 17-percent increase in sales last year.
"I've been with Mercedes-Benz almost 14 years. Back 14 years ago, the whole of Canada, the total volume was about 4,000 units across the country. Right now, we are basically looking at more than 23,000 units right across Canada," he said.
"They (new Chinese immigrants) actually support a lot of the business. They support probably more than 40 percent. If you talk about the overall Chinese community support of the Mercedes-Benz business, it should be more than 60 percent," said Lu, who works out of North Vancouver, one of the country's most expensive addresses and popular with Chinese migrants for the availability of good schools.
"But an additional 20 to 30 percent has been the local Chinese who have been here for many, many years and the new immigrants," he said.
At the Rolls-Royce Motor Car Vancouver display beside some vintage models from the legendary British auto maker, interest was brisk in the new Phantom Spirit of Ecstasy model. The car, one of 20 in North America out of 100 produced, was made for the company's 100th anniversary.
Rolls-Royce thought so much in the potential of the Vancouver market that last year it opened its first stand-alone dealership in the city.
Andrew Mortimer-Lamb, general sales manager at Rolls-Royce Vancouver, said the company has "had great success," selling 23 Rolls-Royce cars in its first year. In June and July, the Vancouver dealership was tied for third in North American sales.
"It's a pretty good percentage of new immigrants (buying cars). Probably about 45 to 50 of our buyers are new to Vancouver. But we have a strong percentage of loyal Rolls-Royce customers for a long time as well."
Mortimer-Lamb felt that a prime reason many well-to-do new immigrants were expressing an interest in buying a Rolls-Royce was that the cars were much cheaper in Canada.
In China, imported cars with engines larger than 4.0 liters are subject to a 25 percent import duty, a 17 percent value-added tax and a 40 percent consumption tax. A Rolls-Royce Phantom currently starts at 6.6 million RMB (1.03 million U.S. dollars) in China, while a top-end Phantom Drop Head starts at 545,000 Canadian dollars (545,490 U.S. dollars) in Vancouver.
"Most of my clients are new to Vancouver and they haven't had a Rolls-Royce before, partly, I suppose, because they know how expensive it is at home, that they are excited about pricing here and they're excited to drive it here," Mortimer-Lamb said.
Fred Lam, marketing director of the BMW Store on Vancouver's Burrard Street, said sales of the German cars were "doing pretty well right now," despite many Canadians struggling from the effects of the economic downturn.
"The Asian market (in Vancouver) is really the biggest thing. Every one that comes in really looks a lot at our M series, which are all the sports models of the vehicles. Family-wise, we have a lot of sales on the X5 M. A lot of families come in to look at them and they are a really good seller as well."
With the highest-priced car at the Luxury + Supercar Weekend being a Bugatti Gran Sport selling for a 2.3 million Canadian dollars (2.317 million U.S. dollars), at nearly a tenth of the price was the McLaren MP4-12C. The first production car from the legendary Formula One racing team is producing up to 1,200 of the 3.8-liter sports cars at a sticker price starting at 247,500 Canadian dollars (247,549 U.S. dollars).
The car will be offered in the Asia-Pacific region starting in March.
