Rental supercar firm disappears after 2 months

[Watchman]

Rental supercar firm disappears after 2 months

By Desmond Ng

TALK about a speedy exit.

A luxury car rental business here has closed its shutters after just about two months into the business.
6Speed - which offered high performance supercars like the Lamborghini Murcielago and Ferrari F430 for rent for as much as $4,500 a day - has ceased its operations.

It had launched its business with a party at Timbre @ The Arts House in October.
When The New Paper visited its office at Loyang Drive yesterday, the company's signage was no longer there.
Its fleet of flashy supercars was also nowhere to be seen.
The business had previously rented the premises from vehicle service centre Exquisite Marques, which also operates from that workshop.
An Exquisite Marques employee there said 6Speed had vacated the place a few weeks ago.
Photo: TNP, Desmond Ng

6Speed had rented part of the premises for about six months, she said.
6Speed sales director Denny Koh could not be reached despite calls to his mobile phone. He also did not respond to our text messages.
The company's telephone number was also not in use.
A search with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority showed the business as a "live company" and listed a Mr Charlton Goh as sole proprietor.
Our searches showed that Mr Goh is a discharged bankrupt.
In an interview with The New Paper last month, Mr Koh said that the company had about 120 members who paid between $10,000 and $50,000 for packages to gain access to 6Speed's fleet of 15 cars.

This included a BMW 320i convertible, a Porsche 911 C4S and the top-of-the-range Lamborghini Murcielago.
About half its fleet is rented out every weekend, he said then.
The New Paper understands that a used car dealer had repossessed six of 6Speed's cars because of defaulted loans.
Exotic car rental is considered a niche business because of the high up-front costs of buying and maintaining such supercars.
Then there are the insurance costs.Need a great room deal in Asia? Save up to 30% with AsiaRooms.com
The annual insurance for such cars is about $20,000 a year, compared to about $1,000 for a family sedan.
This is why only a handful of companies here offer rentals of high-performance marques such as Porsches, Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

Deposits paid
In the previous interview, Mr Koh said that about 80 per cent of his clients were locals.
One other car rental company said that four of 6Speed's previous customers called them last week, saying that they had each paid deposits to rent cars from 6Speed.
A staff member at the rental company, who declined to be named, said: "Some of their clients called us for help in locating the other firm, saying that they've already paid their deposits to rent the car. And now, they're left in the lurch with no cars.
"That's when we found out that they (6Speed) could possibly have ceased operations."

 

[zuoom]

something not too long ago.

Want a fancy car? All you need is $4,500
THE next time you spot a $1.5 million Lamborghini Murcielago on the road, don't assume that the driver is a millionaire. Or the son of one. The super car could be a rented one. But renting one isn't cheap - expect to pay around $4,500 for a day's spin. This makes it the most expensive car for rent here.

The Lamborghini Murcielago is only being offered by 6Speed, a car rental company. It launched its business with a party at Timbre The Arts House two weeks ago. Exotic car rental is a niche business here due to the high up-front costs involved in purchasing these cars.

Then there are maintenance and insurance costs too. The annual insurance for such cars is about $20,000 a year, compared to about $1,000 for a family sedan. Replacing a clutch in a Murcielago can set you back $25,000. This is why only two companies here, 6Speed and Luxe Car Rental, offer rentals of high-performance marques such as Porsches, Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Both companies said the growing affluence of Singaporeans and the influx of foreigners working here have fuelled the demand for such cars.

6Speed director Denny Koh (right) said they have about 120 members who have paid between $10,000 and $50,000 for packages to gain access to their 15 cars, including a BMW 320i convertible, a Porsche 911 C4S and the top-of-the-range Lamborghini Murcielago.

About half his fleet is rented out every weekend. The cheapest luxury car to rent would be the BMW at $450 a day. And even if you have the deep pockets required for the Murcielago, the company does not rent the car to first-timers or to non-members, Mr Koh said.

The interested hirer has to rent the company's less expensive super cars first, such as the Lamborghini Gallardo or Ferrari F430. This is so Mr Koh can assess if the person is capable of handling the Murcielago.

He said: "When he rents our other cars, we can monitor (through an in-built computer in the car) if he is changing gears at the right time or if he's a dangerous driver who goes over the speed limits frequently on our roads. From there, we'll do a risk assessment and decide if we'll rent him the (Murcielago)."

He said they won't turn down the customer directly, but will tell him the car is unavailable if he asks for it. Mr Koh, formerly from Luxe Car Rental, said that thanks to the booming economy, Singaporeans are growing more affluent with a taste for luxury products.

After all, Singapore has the highest concentration of US dollar millionaires in the world, according to the Boston Consulting Group's latest Global Wealth report released in June. Such millionaire households jumped 35 per cent last year, reported The Straits Times in September.

About 80 per cent of Mr Koh's clients are locals and the rest are foreigners. Mr Koh noted that some of his foreign hirers even rent their cars just as a show of wealth - never mind if they don't necessarily drive them. He said one wealthy Chinese national paid over $40,000 to rent the Ferrari F430 to park outside his Sentosa Cove bungalow in August - just to show off to his neighbour, who owns the older Ferrari F360.

Said Mr Koh: "I knew he didn't drive it much because when we collected the car, the odometer showed only 40km on it. I was wondering if it (the odometer) was broken or whether there was something wrong with my eyes. We went back to the office and double- checked the odometer, and it was working. "The super rich can be very strange sometimes."

via : http://canuaffordit.blogspot.com/2010/12/want-fancy-car-all-you-need-is-4500.html