China is to impose an extra 10 percent tax on “super cars” and other luxury models costing 1.3 million yuan (US$188,445) or higher, in a bid to rein in lavish spending and to reduce emissions, the Chinese Ministry of Finance said.
The new tax rate will potentially affect pricing for top-of-the-range models from automakers such as BMW AG, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz and Audi AG, as well as super-high-end brands such as Ferrari, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce.
Automakers played down the impact, saying the tax hike would only impact a small number of models, while executives said wealthy Chinese buyers were unlikely to be put off by a relatively marginal price hike on already expensive cars.
Photo: AFP
Beijing, spearheaded by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), has been cracking down on ostentatious shows of wealth over the past few years, a drive that has hit domestic luxury sales from premium alcoholic spirits to handbags.
Beijing issued new rules saying top officials should cut down expensive travel and avoid owning fancy cars, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
The tax hike, effective from yesterday, also comes as prices of luxury cars have been falling steadily in China, in part due to consumer criticism that global car brands have been overcharging Chinese buyers.
However, analysts and automakers said the higher tax rate would likely only have a limited impact on mainstream luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW that dominate China’s premium car market segment.
“The majority of our business will not be impacted. But because this was just announced yesterday, we are still evaluating to see what impact we might see on our business,” a Beijing-based BMW spokesman said.
He added that only “a small portion” of the vehicles BMW sells in China are priced above 1.3 million yuan.
Audi said in a statement that vehicles costing more than 1.3 million yuan made up less than 1 percent of its deliveries in China.
“Emotion and status are significant drivers for the upper premium segment. The effect on deliveries should be limited as the new tax rate concerns all manufacturers,” the automakers said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS