Auto manufacturers head north with luxurious models The northern and southern automobile markets in Vietnam have quite different characteristics because of the differences in the viewpoints, lifestyle and taste. Luxurious cars have been reportedly better sold in the north so far this year.    Mercedes Benz Vietnam is about to attend the biggest event for automobile manufacturers of the year – Vietnam Motor Show 2013 to be held in HCM City in nearly three months. However, it still decided to spend VND63 billion to organize the third Fascination Program, a specific exhibition of the three-star brand at the Giang Vo Exhibition Center in Hanoi on July 25-28. The even was believed the biggest so far. This can partially show how the German automobile manufacturer sees the northern market. Not only trying to conquer the northern people’s hearts by organizing the impressive event, Mercedes Benz decided that northern people were the first clients in Asia who could see the S500L 2014 version. Instead of launching the super car at its headquarters in HCM City like it did with the other models in the past, Mercedes Benz first introduced the VND6 billion model in Hanoi. According to the manufacturer, the second S500L 2014 would only arrive in Vietnam in two months, while customers would have to wait six months to have the second one with the same color. Mercedes Benz made the right decision. It took the manufacturer 20 minutes only to find the owner of the super car. In order to become the owner of the luxurious car, which is the only one in Vietnam for now, the owner of a company in Hanoi had to spend VND1 billion more to win the oppressive auction. A foreign guest who attended the auction, uttered: “There are so many rich people in Hanoi.” Earlier this year, Audi opened its showroom in Hanoi, the biggest one of the manufacturer in Vietnam, which is three times larger than the first showroom in HCM City. The showroom has the investment capital of VND44 billion. In late June 2013, BMW Vietnam opened its BMW Long Bien Center which meets the BMW global 4S, worth VND100 billion. The center has been equipped with ISIS Integrated Service Information Server, which allows connecting BMW Long Bien with BMW’s engineers in Germany. This is the second BMW 4S in Vietnam. The first one is located at Euro Auto’s headquarters in Phu My Hung urban area in HCM City. A series of new models have been present at the two leading centers, including the new version of Audi Q5, BMW 3GT. In the near future, there would be series 1 models of BMW, the direct rivals for Mercedes A-Class, while Mini brand products would be officially distributed by BMW Vietnam from the fourth quarter. Also in June, the sales agent of Rolls Royce made debut in Hanoi, while a Rolls Royce showroom would be opened in the city just in some months. Sources said that the showroom of Bentley would be located not far from the one of Rolls Royce. Analysts said they can see a new trend of luxury car manufacturers marching towards the northern market, where there are the biggest potential buyers. They have noted that there are some differences in the taste of the northern and southern people. While people in the north like luxurious cars with splendid appearance and luxurious interior decoration, southern people would pay more attention to the features of the products when they seek to buy cars. Source: DNSG