Photo: CarNewsChina.com
We recently returned from the Auto Shanghai 2015, and I have a confession to make: there’s not a single dealer in the financial center of China that sells the Dodge Viper. If you want to make the all-American supercar your own, the Chinese grey market will be much obliged to help you.
Also known as parallel import, the grey market isn’t a new concept in the automotive world. In January we reported that a 2015 Ford Mustang GT will set a Chinese customer back a whopping $128,680. Considering that a GT costs $32,000-something in the United States, the difference is dramatic, but the Dodge Viper’s case is simply mind-boggling.
Just to get things straight from the get-go, $84,995 is as low as you can go in the US if you want the most basic 2015 Dodge Viper SRT currently produced. The peeps from CarNewsChina found the red snake you can admire in the photo gallery below in a supercar dealer located in the Chaoyang District in Beijing. Curious what’s the price of this 100% American exotica half the world away?
$482,000. Four hundred and eighty-two grand. In China’s currency, that’s 2,98.77 million yuan, as you can see for yourself in the first picture of the adjacent gallery. That’s a bonkers price to pay considering how much a Porsche or Ferrari costs in the States. But Chrysler isn’t present in China, leaving much space for the grey market to flourish.
According to the Shanghai-based publication, the Beijing dealer got the Viper from a dealership in Cali. Leaving the 60 percent export tax and dealer markup aside, one must answer the question how can you get a license plate and insurance for a 2015 Dodge Viper in the Asian country?
CarNewsChina notes that “the Viper was never officially type-approved in China,” though the dealer already sold three examples of the V10-powered supercar. Instead of an ending note, a 2015 Corvette is priced at 1.73 million yuan in China, translating to approximately $280,000.
Just to get things straight from the get-go, $84,995 is as low as you can go in the US if you want the most basic 2015 Dodge Viper SRT currently produced. The peeps from CarNewsChina found the red snake you can admire in the photo gallery below in a supercar dealer located in the Chaoyang District in Beijing. Curious what’s the price of this 100% American exotica half the world away?
$482,000. Four hundred and eighty-two grand. In China’s currency, that’s 2,98.77 million yuan, as you can see for yourself in the first picture of the adjacent gallery. That’s a bonkers price to pay considering how much a Porsche or Ferrari costs in the States. But Chrysler isn’t present in China, leaving much space for the grey market to flourish.
According to the Shanghai-based publication, the Beijing dealer got the Viper from a dealership in Cali. Leaving the 60 percent export tax and dealer markup aside, one must answer the question how can you get a license plate and insurance for a 2015 Dodge Viper in the Asian country?
CarNewsChina notes that “the Viper was never officially type-approved in China,” though the dealer already sold three examples of the V10-powered supercar. Instead of an ending note, a 2015 Corvette is priced at 1.73 million yuan in China, translating to approximately $280,000.
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