The distributor of Maserati luxury cars here is
clearing out its existing models, with some costing between
S$51,000 and S$95,000 less than their original prices.
In a letter to former buyers late March, a copy of
which was seen by TODAY, Hong Seh Motors said that luxury-car sales
were hit by high showroom rent, skyrocketing Certificate of
Entitlement (COE) prices, and higher taxes imposed in recent years,
among other factors.
It added that it could not “afford to bleed” like Ital
and EuroSports which, it claimed, lost “about S$4.5 million each
year for the last three consecutive years”.
EuroSports Auto represents high-end European
manufacturers such as Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo.
Hong Seh Motors also said that it pays S$56,000 a month
to rent its Leng Kee Road showroom, which works out to S$10,339 for
each car sold. “Maserati insisted that we must have an impressive
showroom in the Leng Kee/Alexandria area, which is very expensive,”
it explained.
To sell all its stock, Hong Seh Motors is in the midst
of a “grand sale”. A check on prices by TODAY as a potential buyer
showed that the premium 2013/2014 Quattroporte GTS was selling for
S$555,000, nearly S$100,000 lower than the typical selling price of
S$650,000.
The Quattroporte S car, which used to cost S$496,000,
is now S$445,000.
The 2014 Ghibli S model, which had a price tag of
S$453,000, is going for S$375,000.
Stocks are “moving fast” and the sale would continue
“while stocks last”, its salesperson said. The Ghibli Diesel is
sold out, while stock for other models was generally low. For
instance, there are three Quattroporte GTS and five Quattroporte S
cars left, and just two units of the Ghibli S remain.
Hong Seh Motors said that it would “relinquish” its
role as distributor for Maserati from next month before the
situation worsens. Last week, The Straits Times reported that Ital
Auto, which also distributes brands such as Ferrari, will become
Maserati’s new dealer from May.
In 2013, the Government announced that, under a revised
Additional Registration Fee (ARF) system, the first S$20,000 of a
car’s open market value (OMV) would draw a 100-per-cent ARF. The
subsequent S$30,000 of a car’s OMV will come with a 140-per-cent
ARF and the remaining OMV — beyond S$50,000 — will incur a hefty
180-per-cent ARF.
With such considerations, Hong Seh Motors said that it
had to fork out S$263,000 for ARF, COE and Goods and Services Tax,
among other charges, for a Maserati Ghibli that cost S$96,000, for
example.
Asked about the state of luxury-car market, Mr Teo Hock
Seng, group managing director of Komoco, which owns Ital Auto,
would only say that the economic situation affects how the market
for luxury cars and the car industry perform as a whole. “If the
stock market ... (and) the property market are sluggish, the car
market (would be) sluggish,” he said.
A Maserati owner in his late 40s, who wanted to be
known only as Mahtani, said that he might consider trading in his
Quattroporte four-door car, which will hit the 10-year mark in
about six months, if he gets a good discount. However, he remarked
that the significantly lower prices being offered by Hong Seh
Motors would “definitely affect Maserati’s brand name and
image”.
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