Ducatti 2011 Prices (in China)

[felix]

It's cool that these bikes are coming into china, but also makes me want to shoot myself. It's just sickening to compare those prices to the US prices. Couple of examples:

Diavel
China price after tax = 318,345RMB
US msrp: 16,995USD = 111,600RMB

Diavel Carbon
China price after tax = 366,376RMB
US msrp: 19,995USD = 131,300RMB

Hypermotard 796
China price after tax = 199,943RMB
US msrp: 9,995USD = 65,600RMB

[Lao Jia Hou]

It's just sickening to compare those prices to the US prices.

Absolutely - and this is compounded by the fact that in the USA, msrp prices are negotiable (sometimes substantially), whereas in China, the sticker price is almost always the selling price (same with cars) ... the dealer will offer discounts on extras.

Case in point, during one manic mood, I went into the Harley dealer and offered 400K rmb for a bike that out the door was 420K - they politely smiled and said no - I then argued that I am a lifetime HOG member, have a 25 year patch & high mileage pin, and am therefore supposed to get a 5% discount on ANY bike purchase, covered by Harley Inc. - they politely smiled and said "ok, maybe 418K - if you also buy some clothing".

That Harley in the USA? about 150K rmb - and I get my discount!

Went back a week later - the Harley was sold. They know someone will pay it.

[katui]

deleted and responding Via PM to limit clutter.

[euphonius]

I hate to highjack this thread but why is the cost of the plate so expensive? Is this only true in large cities or all over China, is it an import only thing? I plan on being a QingQi or Galaxy come next summer somewhere in China and am trying to get my head around the bureaucracy involved in buying a bike and getting it street legal in China.

Dear Katui,

First off, welcome to the forum, where you'll find answers to many of your questions about motorcycling in China.

Secondly, this is the wrong place for your query, but given it's a first post I'll give you a brief reply and suggest where to find more info.

You'll be alarmed to learn that 18000 rmb for a plate in Beijing is a bargain compared to Shanghai, where the going rate for a motorcycle plate (or a car plate for that matter) is just south of 50000 rmb. Yes, that's about $7500 at current exchange rates. Just for a plate. The good news is that this situation is far from normal in much of China. There are quite a few cities that now have banned motorcycles altogether, so no plates at all there. But in most of China, including most cities, a legal motorcycle plate can be had for only a few thousand rmb -- assuming that you as a foreigner meet the criteria for ownership. This generally means establishing legal residency in your city, not just a tourist or business visa. That generally means you need to be here on a long term work assignment. Long term generally means a year.

There are quite a few threads in this forum by folks in phone position to want to come to china, buy a bike and ride it around the country, then sell it before leaving. Alas, there are few instances where these scenarios have actually come to pass -- at least not legally. Quite a few riders simply dispense with the "getting legal" part, and most have been successful. But this does carry substantial risks as you'd be riding uninsured and unregistered and unlicensed and hence, in the event of an accident, you'd automatically be assigned 100% of the liability and could well find yourself in seriously deep legal troubles, even jail, not to mention having unkown quantities of cash sucked out of your pockets by the time you saw daylight again. Not trying to scare you. Just give you the lay of the land.

As for why plates are so expensive in Shanghai and Beijing, in principle it's about limiting absolute numbers of vehicles on the roads. Shanghai has done a far better job of this than Beijing, which only instituted its heavy fee structure in the past year. No different really from Hong Kong or Singapore or London, though there is also a strong discriminatory streak toward motorcycles, which are considered eyesores by the bureaucrats in their black sedans.

As we say here, TIC. This is China. I do hope you'll come, and we'll all do our best to help you out.

Cheers