'Maserati 'final sale' on before new dealer takes over

HONG Seh Motors' clearance of its Maserati stock is moving along smoothly, says the current importer of the Italian marque, as it prepares to concentrate fully on its luxury yacht business next.

Hong Seh had put out prominently placed half-page "Final Sale" advertisements on Friday in The Business Times and The Straits Times newspapers, offering the Ghibli mid-sized sedan from S$354,000 with a savings of S$81,000, Quattroporte full-size sedan from S$364,000 (S$121,000 off) and GranTurismo coupe from S$445,000 (S$100,000 less).

When contacted about the response to the ads, Hong Seh executive director Edward Tan said: "The interest level is there because this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal for all the cars."

He said that the units are priced at "close to cost" but declined to say how many units were sold on Friday. Neither would he reveal his stock levels.

But it is understood that there are a few dozen cars available, with some said to date back to model year 2014.

From May 18, 2017 onwards, Ital Auto will assume the Maserati dealership from Hong Seh Motors.

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Hong Seh resigned as the importer on Nov 18, 2016 and had six months to clear its existing stock before Ital takes on the importership.

Ital's managing director Teo Hock Seng has said that his company will not be taking over any of Hong Seh's cars and will be ordering new stocks.

When The Business Times visited the Maserati showroom at Leng Kee Road at lunchtime on Friday, there were a few people in the showroom. From the cars they had driven in, it appeared that they were looking to upgrade from mid-sized German sedans.

When asked about the profile of his prospective customers though, Mr Tan would only say they were "people who appreciate a good deal".

But whoever buys a Maserati on Friday, he or she can look to Ital Auto for aftersales service after May 18.

Read also: Lavish car launches worth it, say luxury brands

"We have to comply with the warranty," explained Mr Teo. "We will service the cars with trained personnel. Don't worry, my workshop is on Leng Kee Road and I took over their aftersales manager."

However, Mr Teo added: "But we won't touch parallel imported Maseratis. We will have a record of such cars from the factory."

It is understood that there are some grey imports, like the recently launched Levante crossover.

Going forward, Mr Tan will be focusing on luxury yachts, a business which Hong Seh entered into a decade ago. Today, it represents the Ferretti Group, whose core brands for pleasure craft are Ferretti, Riva and Pershing. Prices start from 200,000-plus euros (S$297,000) for a 27-foot (eight-metre) speedboat, to 100 million euros for a large custom yacht up to 100 metres, such as the Ferretti superyacht. With Riva a sponsor of the Ferrari Formula One team, and Pershing co-marketing with Lamborghini as the fastest brand on water, Mr Tan said that he will be reaching out to Ferrari and Lamborghini owners soon.

Hong Seh was the Ferrari importer here from 1982 to 2009, before the brand with the prancing horse badge moved over to Ital Auto.

Hong Seh had also represented Lamborghini until 2001, when the marque with the fighting bull badge went to Melvin Goh of EuroSports Auto.

Mr Tan said: "I will be back in the Ferrari and Lamborghini game again, trying to sell them a boat."

This article was first published on Apr 17, 2017.
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