For
high-rolling drivers in the United Arab Emirates, no car is complete without a
single-digit license plate.
The oil-rich country's wealthy elite
are willing to drop millions of dollars to get their hands on one.
Dubai property developer Balwinder
Sahni wanted a highly coveted plate bearing the number 5. He wanted it so much,
he bid 33 million dirhams ($9 million) for it at a government auction earlier
this month.
It was one of the largest sums ever
spent on a license plate, although still lower than the $14 million record set
in 2008 by an Abu Dhabi businessman.
Sahni found that his big purchase
also brought him a lot of attention. He says he can't go out in public without
people stopping him and asking to take a photo -- and some aren't impressed, accusing
him of wasting his money.
"It's hard, people giving
comments without knowing the type of person I am," Sahni told CNNMoney. He
described himself as "a simple man."
The single-digit plates now adorn
two of his six Rolls Royce cars. (He also has two more of the luxury vehicles
on order.)
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Balwinder Sahni with two of his
Rolls Royce cars bearing multimillion-dollar license plates.
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It's also not the first time Sahni
has spent serious money on a license plate. He secured a No. 9 plate with a
winning bid of 24.5 million dirhams ($6.7 million) at a government auction last
year.
Since Dubai has no income tax, Sahni
says he sees the hefty license plate purchases as his contribution to the
public coffers. He says he believes the money will go to charity and toward
improving the city's infrastructure.
"I believe in giving
back," he said. "This city has given me a lot."
Dubai's Roads and Transport
Authority declined to comment on how the proceeds from the license plate
auctions are spent. The authority holds several a year. Bids can start in the
millions of dirhams.
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Dubai's Roads and Transport
Authority is offering novelty license plates.
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Private companies in the UAE are
also trying to cash in on the license plate business. A secondary market where
the more sought-after plates are traded has sprung up.
Abdulkerim Arsanov and his brother
set up a website, numbers.ae, to link sellers with buyers. The biggest deal
through their website so far was for a two-digit plate that sold for 2.7
million dirhams ($735,000).
"Number plates have become more
luxurious than the cars themselves," Arsanov said.
The brothers started their business
two years ago after struggling to find ways to sell their own collection of
unique plates. Their website isn't making them any money yet, but Arsanov hopes
to expand it into markets beyond the UAE, like the U.K. and Russia. They plan to
start charging for the services at a later stage.
The site usually gets 500 to 800
visitors a day. but the auction where Sahni bid $9 million set off a wave of
new interest. More than 8,000 views caused the site to crash and forced the
brothers to upgrade their server.
And Sahni's habit of spending big on
license plates could generate extra web traffic for them in the future.
"I always like to give myself a
gift every year," he said. "When you work very hard, you need to
present yourself something."
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