BMW, Nokia win super-rich over
HSBC, which wins the category for forex services, builds its edge on localisation
The mainland's rich like to drive BMWs and Buicks, call their friends on Nokia mobiles, wear Giorgio Armani clothes and use credit cards issued by China Merchants Bank, according to a survey published yesterday by EuromoneyChina.
Between July and October last year, the magazine sent 9,000 survey forms to mainlanders, each with an estimated personal wealth of more than US$1 million, asking them to name their preferred brands in 18 products.
Of the 389 respondents, 39 per cent have personal wealth of more than US$12 million.
For luxury cars, 37 per cent chose BMW, ahead of 28 per cent for Mercedes Benz, and for a business car, 24 per cent chose Buick, ahead of 19 per cent for Mercedes Benz. For international airlines, 25 per cent preferred Singapore Airlines to beat out Cathay Pacific.
For yuan services, 35 per cent chose China Merchants, ahead of Bank of China with 22 per cent, and for credit cards, 33 per cent preferred China Merchants, against 22 per cent for Bank of China. For foreign-currency services, HSBC won with 39 per cent, compared with 22 per cent for Citibank.
Nokia was the most favoured mobile phone, with 47 per cent, against 17 per cent for Motorola. For designer clothes, Giorgio Armani won with 25 per cent, ahead of Louis Vuitton with 8 per cent.
Euromoney estimated 236,000 mainlanders had more than one million yuan in assets, with up to 30,000 having more than 100 million yuan.
Euromoney gave awards to each winner.
After accepting his award, Mike Yeung, the head of personal financial services for HSBC China, said the lender aimed to be a local and international bank at the same time, a theme it emphasised in its advertising in the mainland.
He said HSBC had the biggest network among foreign banks in the country, with more than 4,000 employees, 90 per cent of them local.
