Center

Event targets deep-pocket consumers

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-12 10:16

Fancy cars, private jets, diamond watches and designer clothes are attracting well-heeled buyers at Shanghai Top Marques 2006, a four-day luxury lifestyle expo at the Shanghai International Convention Center in Pudong.

The organizer expects visitors to spend 500 million yuan (US$62.5 million) on luxury goods. The list of pricey products includes a rare 89.98 million yuan woodcarving, a 9.99 million yuan Koenigsegg CCR sports car - the fastest in the world - and a 7 million yuan Porsche.

At yesterday's opening, four cars from Spyker, Koenigsegg, Wiesmann and Hulme Supercars Ltd made their Asia debut.

Exhibitors were highly impressed that wealthy Chinese spent more than 250 million yuan at last year's Top Marques Shanghai. This year's event has attracted more than 70 exhibitors from home and abroad.

"The market is exciting," said Jock Freemantle, managing director of Supercars Ltd, on his first visit to China. "Shanghai is spectacular, much more than I expected."

The New Zealand native is looking for business partners at the event.

Porsche attended Top Marques Shanghai for the first time with three models. Tommy Zhao, general manager of Porsche Center Shanghai, said Porsche sales increased greatly in China this year, and the company thinks it's time to further promote the brand.

"The exhibition offers a great opportunity for our cars to meet more potential customers," he said.

The event mainly targets wealthy private business owners from neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces, according to Sheng Lei, general manager of the organizer, Haistand China. More than 80 percent of the goods last year were bought by those people.