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The growing wealth of China’s entrepreneurs in innovative high-tech industries is the “new money” that will bolster future sales of super luxury cars, according to a director at the British-based car maker Bentley.
The comments come as the marque is set to launch its first SUV at the end of the year.
The firm’s customers based in China were from traditional industries such as property and mining, said Ricky Tay, Bentley’s managing director in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
He described their spending on luxury cars as traditional old money.
“But we expect that in the next few years the trend will be towards new money, with more customers who are entrepreneurs coming from IT and innovation industries, doing scientific things.” he said.
“They are the people who can afford this kind of car.”
Examples of the kind of people who might be attracted to buying a Bentley, he said, included wealthy entrepreneurs such as Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma.
Bentley’s new SUV, the Bentayga, will go into production in the middle of next year, said Tay.
“Pre-sale has been starting now and we have collected 4,500 purchase intents worldwide,” he said on the sidelines of the Shanghai auto show.
Production capacity would not be that high, which meant not all potential orders would be converted into actual sales, he said.
The Bentayga, which first previewed at the Geneva car show in 2012, would become the most powerful luxury SUV on the market, according to Tay.
He declined to reveal the price range for the car.
The government’s anti-corruption campaign has hit sales of luxury goods in China, but Tay said there were always ups and downs in the market and a company had to find ways to maintain its business.
“In every market scenario, there are always opportunities. We have to find the market dynamics and our targeted customers,” he said.
“We want to ensure each Bentley is tailored to each customer. It’s not just a customer buying a car, but buying their own particular Bentley,” he said.
Buyers will be able to customise their vehicles by making various choices about its specification, such as its colour, wood trim design and electronic configuration, Tay said.
It usually takes six months from placing an order to delivery, however, Chinese customers with cash in hand prefer to have their car “yesterday not tomorrow”, he said.
“We want to tell customers that they are buying an individual car for themselves, not buying a car off the shelf,” he said.
 
 


China’s hi-tech entrepreneurs ‘will boost luxury car market’

Customers examining Bentley models at a previous Shanghai auto show. The firm's traditional customers in China have come from sectors such as mining and real estate. Photo: AFP

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New breed of owner entering the market, according to a director at British-based luxury car firm Bentley


China’s hi-tech entrepreneurs ‘will boost luxury car market’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}New breed of owner entering the market, according to a director at British-based luxury car firm Bentley

New breed of owner entering the market, according to a director at British-based luxury car firm Bentley