Beijing resident Lily Liu has always liked driving fast, and she doesn’t mind spending to indulge that passion.
Liu, 44, bought a gray Porsche AG 911 Carrera S two years ago for 1.2 million yuan ($182,000) and is shopping for an Aston Martin, the sports car made famous by James Bond movies. The construction company president said she is “quite proud” of being the centre of attention when she motors around the city.
“Fast cars have always been a man’s world,” Liu said. “Women buying such cars are just seeking an equal standing with our male counterparts.”
A third of China’s millionaires are women, and they buy a disproportionately large share of high-performance sports cars in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Fiat SpA said the percentage of women buying its Maseratis in China is triple that of Europe, while the percentage buying its Ferraris is double the global average.
Sales of ultra-luxury vehicles in the world’s largest auto market likely increased 60 per cent last year, according to consultants Bain & Co. Deliveries may increase 35 per cent this year, driven by consumers wanting to prove their success or succumbing to peer pressure, said Ray Tsang, a Shanghai-based partner at Bain.
Richest women
The number of Chinese millionaires grew 6.1 per cent last year to 875,000, according to the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute, as the economy expanded by 9.6 per cent in the third quarter.
The nation has 11 of the world’s 20 richest self-made women. Cheung Yan, founder and chairwoman of Nine Dragons Paper Holdings, is number one with an estimated fortune of $5.6 billion, Hurun said.
Sarah Yao, 36, is shopping for another luxury car to add to her collection of nine, including two Maseratis and a Fiat 500. She said she once flew to Italy to learn how to drive a Maserati.
“Nowadays, women do a lot of men’s jobs,” said Yao, co-owner of the Castle Hotel in the coastal city of Qingdao. “We work very hard and need something to reward ourselves.”
Sales of ultra-luxury cars increased to more than 1,500 last year from 948 in 2009, according to Bain estimates. In the US, sales of cars priced above $100,000 rose by about 35 per cent last year to 8,500 from 6,300 in 2009, according to IHS Automotive in Lexington, Massachusetts.
