Supercar makers chase China's superrich motorheads

MACAU - China's superrich want supercars.

That's what the makers of world's most exotic and expensive sports cars are hoping as they gather in Macau this week for the first Asian edition of Monaco's annual Top Marques show that began eight years ago.

The supercar companies are chasing growth in China, which is churning out scores of new millionaires each year and is home to the world's biggest auto market.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis sat alongside rare and beautiful automotive works of art from lesser known marques like Italy's Pagani, West Richland, Wash.-based SSC and Sweden's Koenigsegg. They drew admiring looks from wealthy auto enthusiasts from China and other Asian countries.

Sales staff were hoping to sign deals with some of the 20,000 expected visitors. One of them was Steve Chen, who built his fortune in China with a motivational speaking business. He was admiring the Pagani Huayra, an €$1.1 million street rocket sheathed in carbon fiber and titanium with gull wing doors and a V-12 engine churning out 700 horsepower.

Chen was thinking of buying a Pagani or a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport to add to his collection of 15 to 16 high-end cars, which he divides between his bases in Taiwan and Shanghai.

"I go to a lot of auto shows in China. I've loved cars since I was a kid and I have been collecting many different car brands," said Chen, who opened his leather satchel to reveal keys for a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and a Rolls-Royce, careful not to display them too ostentatiously.

Chen, who visited the Bugatti factory in France for a test drive, said he admired the Veyron's top speed of more than 250 mph though he did wonder aloud to the sales staff why the car, which has a list price of $6.1 million in China, was so expensive.

China's billionaire ranks, boosted by the country's fast-growing economy, swelled to 271 in 2011, 82 more than last year, according to the Hurun Report, China's version of the Forbes rich list. The number of millionaires grew by 85,000 in 2011 to 960,000. Rising wealth levels are reflected across Asia, which had 3.3 million millionaires last year, surpassing Europe for the first time and closing in on North America's top spot, according to a study by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

With so much wealth being created, "there's a fair bit of competition and these companies will now have to establish their brands and see if their brands will get a following," said Amar Gill, who authored a recent CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets report on Asia's wealthy.

China's vast expanses, linked by an extensive network of newly built of freeways, could help business for supercar makers.