Number Plates News

Chinese celebrate New Year in Style with £150,000 plate

13 February 2009

The equivalent of more than £150,000 has been paid for a number plate to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

At an auction in Hong Kong on Saturday 7 February 2009, an un-named woman secured the registration ‘2318' in a battle with businessman, Liang Qiwei after the starting price of a mere HK$52,000 (about £4670) passed the HK$1m mark. The plate was finally secured by an impressive HK$1.7 million – equal to more than £152,000.

The interest surrounding the seemingly innocuous digits arises from their pronounciation "Yee sam yat baat" -' which means "Easy life and prosperity" in Cantonese.

Mr Liang, who is more used to dealing in racehorses, was not to be outdone and quickly snapped-up both a great alternative in '3218' for HK$750,000 (£67k) and also 'MY8' at HK$440,000(£39K).

He considers the plates, which are intended as gifts for his sons, to be a bargain, saying that “I can easily pay HK$2 million to HK$3 million for a horse. So what I paid for the licence plate numbers is nothing in comparison.”

The record price achieved at auction in Hong Kong was the HK$16.5m, or nearly £1.5m, paid by businessman Zhang Chengguang for the registration '18' only last year.

Observers will be quick to interpret these latest transactions as clear proof of the continued confidence in the number plate market displayed, world-wide, by astute investors.