导读:阿联酋房地产开发商砸重金买下个位数车牌,壕的不仅是车更是车牌。六辆劳斯莱斯已有两辆配上了个位数车牌。未来或许还会再买!
For high-rolling drivers in the United Arab Emirates, no car is complete without a single-digit license plate.
对于阿联酋的土豪司机们来说,没有个位数车牌的车是不完整的。
The oil-rich country’s wealthy elite are willing to drop millions of dollars to get their hands on one.
而这个石油大国的有钱人们就非常愿意一掷千金来买下一块这样的车牌。
Dubai property developer Balwinder Sahni wanted a highly coveted plate bearing the number 5. He wanted it so much, he bid 33 million dirhams ($9 million) for it at a government auction earlier this month.
迪拜的房地产开发商Balwinder Sahni对写着数字5的车牌可以说是梦寐以求。他太想要这块车牌,于是月初他花了3300万迪拉姆(900万美元)在政府的拍卖会上买下了这块车牌。
It was one of the largest sums ever spent on a license plate, although still lower than the $14 million record set in 2008 by an Abu Dhabi businessman.
这笔交易金额已经是车牌史上最大数额之一了,虽然仍然低于2008年由一名阿布扎比商人创下的1400万美元最高价记录。”
Sahni found that his big purchase also brought him a lot of attention. He says he can’t go out in public without people stopping him and asking to take a photo -- and some aren’t impressed, accusing him of wasting his money.
Sahni发现他的大手笔给给他本人也带来了关注。他说他只要一出现在公众视野中,就会有人不停上前来想要跟他合影,当然也有一些人因此而说他浪费钱。
"It’s hard, people giving comments without knowing the type of person I am," Sahni told CNNMoney. He described himself as "a simple man."
Sahni告诉CNN财富板块记者:“这很难,人们总是在不知道我是什么样的人的情况下就对我作出评论。”他称自己是个“很简单的人”。
The single-digit plates now adorn two of his six Rolls Royce cars. (He also has two more of the luxury vehicles on order.)
他买下的个位数车牌现在正装饰在他的六辆劳斯莱斯汽车中的两辆上。(他还有两辆已经下单购买的名牌汽车。)
It’s also not the first time Sahni has spent serious money on a license plate. He secured a No. 9 plate with a winning bid of 24.5 million dirhams ($6.7 million) at a government auction last year.
这也不是Sahni第一次在车牌上砸钱了。去年在政府拍卖会上他以2450万迪拉姆(670万美元)的价格赢得了数字9车牌的竞拍。
Since Dubai has no income tax, Sahni says he sees the hefty license plate purchases as his contribution to the public coffers. He says he believes the money will go to charity and toward improving the city’s infrastructure.
因为迪拜没有收入税,Sahni称他将自己花的重金都当作是对国库的贡献。他说他相信这些钱将会投入慈善并能够改善城市的基础建设。
"I believe in giving back," he said. "This city has given me a lot."
“我相信回报,”他说,“这个城市给了我太多。”
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority declined to comment on how the proceeds from the license plate auctions are spent. The authority holds several a year. Bids can start in the millions of dirhams.
迪拜的道路交通部门拒绝透露拍卖车牌得到的钱的去向。这样的拍卖会政府一年会进行好几次。竞拍价格都是从几百万迪拉姆开始的。
Private companies in the UAE are also trying to cash in on the license plate business. A secondary market where the more sought-after plates are traded has sprung up.
阿联酋的私企也想要在车牌买卖上寻找商机。一个买卖受到追捧的车牌的二手市场正在兴起。
Abdulkerim Arsanov and his brother set up a website, numbers.ae, to link sellers with buyers. The biggest deal through their website so far was for a two-digit plate that sold for 2.7 million dirhams ($735,000).
Abdulkerim Arsanov和他的兄弟建立了一个网站numvers.ae,将卖方与买方联系起来。目前他们的网站上最大的交易是一个两位数的车牌,交易金额为270万迪拉姆(735000美元)。
"Number plates have become more luxurious than the cars themselves," Arsanov said.
Arsanov说:“车牌号已经成为比车本身更奢侈的东西了。”
The brothers started their business two years ago after struggling to find ways to sell their own collection of unique plates. Their website isn’t making them any money yet, but Arsanov hopes to expand it into markets beyond the UAE, like the U.K. and Russia. They plan to start charging for the services at a later stage.
这对兄弟两年前想方设法想要卖掉他们那些独一无二的车牌收藏品时开始他们的创业。他们的网站虽然目前还不能给他们带来收入,但是Arsanov希望能将市场扩展到阿联酋以外,比如英国和俄罗斯。他们计划要在之后的阶段对提供的服务进行收费。
The site usually gets 500 to 800 visitors a day. But the auction where Sahni bid $9 million set off a wave of new interest. More than 8,000 views caused the site to crash and forced the brothers to upgrade their server.
这个网站通常一天能有500到800个访问者。但是Sahni狂砸900万美元的拍卖会带来了一波新鲜的热潮。超过8000的浏览量导致网站崩溃并迫使这对兄弟升级了他们的服务器。
And Sahni’s habit of spending big on license plates could generate extra web traffic for them in the future.
并且在未来,Sahni砸重金买车牌的习惯可能还会给他们带来更多额外的网络浏览量。
"I always like to give myself a gift every year," he said. "When you work very hard, you need to present yourself something."
“我每年都喜欢给自己送一个礼物,”他(Sahni)说,“当你努力工作了,你就需要奖励自己点什么。”