The car license plate I LOVE U sold for US$180,000 (NT$5.9 million) earlier this month in the first auction of novelty personalized plates in Hong Kong.
Buyers crowded into a government auction of unusual license plates which included the chance to have the words HANDSOME, BABYFACE and MR DVD on the fronts and backs of their cars.
Around US$770,000 (NT$25 million) was raised in one morning alone, with the highest price paid for I LOVE U, a plate which attracted fierce bidding.
PHOTO: AP
The personalized plates are among the first batch to be auctioned off by the territory’s government in a new plan to raise money by releasing unusual combinations of letters and numbers for car plates.
Plates that read NEPTUNE, MASTER, and HEHEHAHA were also sold at the mid-September auction.
The Personalized Vehicle Registration Marks Scheme is expected to generate nearly US$9 million (NT$290 million) a year for the Hong Kong government. The money will be spent on projects for the poor.
Despite its wealth, densely-populated Hong Kong has one of the developed world’s lowest car ownership rates with less than 40 percent of adults owning cars.
Because of the small size of the city of 6.8 million and the high cost of running and parking a car, most people choose to get around using public transport or taxis.(DPA)
本月初在香港首場新穎自訂車牌拍賣會上，「我愛你」車牌以十八萬美元（新台幣五百九十萬元）賣出。
買家湧入政府舉辦的獨特車牌拍賣會，有機會讓自己車子的前後車牌寫上「帥氣」、「娃娃臉」與「DVD先生」等字。
光是當天早上就募得約七十七萬美元（新台幣兩千五百萬元），其中競標激烈的「我愛你」車牌以最高價成交。
這些自訂車牌是港府釋出結合文字與號碼的獨特車牌來募款的新計畫中，首批拿來拍賣的一部分。
「海王星」、「大師」與「嘻嘻哈哈」車牌也於九月中旬的拍賣會中賣出。
「自訂車牌號碼計劃」預計將為香港政府帶來約九百萬美元（新台幣二億九千萬元）收益，所得將做為扶貧計畫之用。
雖然生活富裕，但人口稠密的香港卻是全球已開發地區汽車擁有率最低的地方之一，不到四成的成年人擁有車輛。
由於人口六百八十萬的香港面積窄小，開車與停車花費高，多數人都選擇搭乘大眾運輸或計程車趴趴走。
（德通社/翻譯︰賴美君）
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