Super high-end car sales have
screeched to a crawl on the back of loan curbs, higher taxes and a
weaker wealth factor arising from property curbs.
Since the start of the year, brands from Bentley to Ferrari and
Rolls- Royce to Lamborghini have seen registration numbers halved from
last year.
This is despite a bigger supply of COEs this year. Things may worsen next year, with an economic slowdown looming.
To counter plunging sales, various companies have launched leasing
schemes. Such schemes bypass loan curbs as no down payment is required
for what is essentially a long-term rental. Hence, there is no hefty
initial outlay.
But Motorway Car Rentals has gone one step further. It is launching
a scheme that offers to buy over high- end cars from owners who wish to
free up cash (presumably for opportunities that arise in an economic
crunch).
Car owners then lease the vehicles back from Motorway.
Says Motorway chief executive Michael Lim: "This frees them from the
uncertainty of depreciation, which can be steep for this category of
cars."
He adds that a lease - which can be $15,000 a month for a Ferrari
F430 - also covers other substantial costs such as insurance,
maintenance and road tax.
"If you add those up, the annual cost of the car can be quite a lot more than its depreciation."
Motorway will launch the programme soon and expects strong interest.
It has also lined up 30 sports and luxury cars for those who want an outright lease.
These start from $8,800 a month for a two-year lease on a 2008 Porsche 911 to $33,800 a month for a 2013 Ferrari F12.
A 2013 Rolls-Royce Ghost costs $26,800 a month, while a 2012 McLaren MP4-12C costs $21,800 a month.
The fleet also includes an Aston Martin DBS Volante, Audi R8 Spyder, Lamborghini Aventador and Porsche 911 Turbo.
All the cars are also available for monthly rentals (without a
two-year lease). Typically, these monthly rates are close to double the
ones for two- year agreements.
But if all you want is to feel what it is like to drive a supercar for a day or even half a day, the company offers that too.
The daily rates for a 2010 Aston Martin DBS Volante, 2009 Bentley
Continental GTC and 2011 Ferrari California are $1,688, $1,888 and
$2,688 respectively.
The 300 high-end rides are part of Motorway's rental fleet of 1,000
cars, which group managing director Steve Poh says "will double in the
next few months".
The industry veteran notes that rental margins have narrowed drastically over the years because of keen competition.
But because Motorway owns its cars, which were mostly bought when prices were lower, it is able to offer competitive rates.
"We can also work out guaranteed buybacks for hire-purchase deals,"
he adds, explaining that this will remove the uncertainty of a car's
resale value, especially in a softening market.
Motorway's competitors include companies such as Ace Drive, Ultimate Drive and Dream Drive.
