Rise in sale of luxury cars as Chinese rush to beat new levy

Beijing

SUPER-luxury car dealers in China made calls to their best prospects last Wednesday evening, urging them to buy before the clock struck midnight to avoid paying extra taxes on the gilded rides.

Some distributors sold as many cars that night as they deliver in three months, as buyers sought to beat the implementation of a 10 per cent levy on vehicles costing more than 1.3 million yuan (S$270,000) before a value-added tax, according to Wang Cun, an official at the China Automobile Dealers Association.