Maserati dealer slashes prices to clear stock
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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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they better put car in your garage b4 you give them the cheque
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snoopig wanna buy ma?
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got marnee dunno how to use meh? maserati is unker car
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很适å�ˆä½ 嘛
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thank u hor