Dubai the cheapest place to own a super car

Every two years Dubai hosts the region’s biggest auto show. It opens today and runs until December 20th. For those who think they have been watching the end of Dubai over the past few weeks, the opulence of this show is a reminder of the true wealth of the city.

There is good reason for the popularity of luxury cars in Dubai. The zero tax on cars makes it possible to own a Porsche for the price of a modest executive saloon in say Singapore or Hong Kong. Petrol is dirt cheap by global standards, and even insurance very reasonable.

Low-cost motoring

‘If I move to Dubai could I afford a Mercedes?’ a hairdresser in London once asked this correspondent. And a PR friend almost took up a senior job in the Dubai banking sector to fulfill a lifetime ambition to own a Ferrari, red of course.

What that means in practice is that senior executives have to take that step higher, and go for a Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini or Aston Martin. And despite all the well documented economic problems of the past year, Aston sold 150 cars here in 2009, up from just 15 before the oil boom of the noughties.

Does that make the Gulf a haven for car owners? Not exactly, if you live in Dubai there are not many places to drive. You can pop down to Abu Dhabi or over to the east coast or motor up to Ras Al Khamiah, largely through bland desert scenery, but that is about it.

But does that matter if you drive to work in a $200,000 Aston Martin and have somebody polish it for you at the weekend?

Status symbol

You might object to such rampant materialism or the impact on the environment, but cars are a display of affluence and status as well as a practical method of transportation, and nothing is going to change that. The boss has to have the best car.

In the meantime, there are a record number of new launches at the Dubai International Motor Show this week, and anybody who likes cars ought to visit to see all the latest models in one place.