SG: New regulations cause Supercar sales to plummet

Higher taxes and new auto loan restrictions have driven down sales of supercars. Just last year, and despite the relatively small automotive market, Singapore was the third-biggest market in the world for bespoke Rolls-Royce sales, and Porsche one of the top 15 best selling marques. However, new taxes which were implemented in March of 2013 and loan curbs have driven sales down by as much as 90% for certain brands. So far this year, only 2 new Aston Martins, two Lamborghinis and 14 Ferraris were sold, compared to 16, 20 and 64 in the same period last year. This decline can be attributed to the new tax scheme, which taxes the first S$20,000 of a car’s open-market value at 100 per cent, the next S$30,000 at 140 per cent, and anything above S$50,000 at 180 per cent. This has bumped up the price tag of a brand new Aston Martin Vanquish to S$1.088 million from S$880,000. It is believed that should the situation continue, certain dealers may be unable to sustain a viable operation due to the large overheads, which is why they are now throwing lavish launch parties to draw in potential customers.