Talking about supercars, there is no shortage of famous names in Vietnam among the young and talented, with nearly a dozen cars worth hundreds of billions of dong always in the garage. Among them are limited edition versions, and some wealthy individuals even acquire a supercar every few months, making speed enthusiasts both domestically and internationally tip their hats in admiration. But for the wealthy, money is just money, and businesspeople will never accept a loss. So why are these tycoons willing to spend billions to buy luxury cars?
Among the supercar enthusiasts, one of the most famous is Cường Đô La. His real name is Nguyễn Quốc Cường, born in 1982 in Gia Lai, and he is the son of Nguyễn Thị Như Loan, the general director and chairwoman of Quốc Cường Gia Lai Joint Stock Company, which has an estimated asset value of over 12 trillion dong. Cường Đô La is known as a supercar collector in Vietnam and owns a collection of expensive cars. He started collecting supercars in 2000 at the age of 18, and for many years, this mountain town tycoon has always amazed the public with his lavish lifestyle. On his personal page, Cường Đô La frequently shares his luxurious life with supercars worth from several billion to tens of billions of dong.
Speaking of Cường Đô La's supercar collection, it is an astonishing number with an estimated value of hundreds of billions of dong. In 2007, Cường Đô La surprised everyone by bringing the first Lamborghini Gallardo to Vietnam. This supercar from the heir of Quốc Cường Gia Lai created an underground competition among car enthusiasts, leading to the emergence of many other wealthy car collectors. Notably, the Ferrari and Porsche brands are favorites of Cường Đô La; his collection has included a Ferrari 488 GTB worth over 6 billion dong, a Ferrari F8 Tributo worth over 20 billion dong, a Ferrari SF90 Stradale worth 35 billion dong, and a Ferrari SF90 Spider worth nearly 40 billion dong.
In May of this year, Cường Đô La confirmed that he would order a Ferrari 12 Cilindri, known to have a starting price of $424,000, with the Spider variant priced at $467,000. After adding various taxes, the price could reach up to 35 billion dong in Vietnam. In the Vietnamese market, only two orders are available for this model; around early 2022, Cường Đô La purchased a new generation Porsche 911 GT3 and was also one of the first in Vietnam to own this car, dubbed a street racing car. Cường Đô La's 911 GT3, imported privately, has a registration price in Ho Chi Minh City of about 20 billion dong. After selling the 911 GT3 for about 17 billion dong, Cường Đô La continued to make headlines by acquiring a Porsche 911 Sport Classic with a registration price of over 21 billion dong. Earlier this year, the 80 billion dong Pagani Huayra of tycoon Minh Nhựa unexpectedly appeared in Cường Đô La's garage.
Images of the car in Cường Đô La's villa were shared by Minh Nhựa on his personal page, announcing that the car has a new owner. Note that only 100 Pagani Huayras have been produced worldwide. Besides supercars, Cường Đô La also owns many luxury cars such as a Rolls Royce Cullinan Series 2 worth about 33 billion dong, a Bentley Continental GT V8 Legendary Edition worth 20 billion dong, and a Mercedes G63 worth over 10 billion dong.
Recently, Cường Đô La became famous for being the first Vietnamese to spend 2.5 billion dong to participate in the Gumo 3224 supercar journey organized in September, starting from Ho Chi Minh City and ending in Singapore. Cường Đô La posted a photo with Maximilion Cooper, the founder of the Gumbo 3000 journey, along with a message announcing that Nguyễn Quốc Cường is the first Vietnamese to register for the journey. The official Facebook page of Gumbo 3000 has posted images and video clips of two supercars, the Ferrari SF90 Spider and 296 GTB, in Ho Chi Minh City, with the SF90 Spider belonging to Cường Đô La. Yes, Cường Đô La is an example of how buying supercars and owning luxury cars has become a familiar thing for the wealthy showbiz and businesspeople not only in Vietnam but also around the world.
Spending a huge amount of money to buy a supercar may seem extravagant, but you wouldn't believe it is a profitable investment that only successful people with a unique path can think of.
First of all, it must be said that money can be lost, but reputation remains eternal. Supercars are always considered a type of vehicle that depreciates easily due to their high prices and low practicality. However, many tycoons still spend huge sums to buy them, leaving many people puzzled. The question arises: why do some people spend tens of billions, even hundreds of billions, on vehicles, not to mention the maintenance and repair costs that are ten times higher than regular cars? Along with other additional costs, the reality is that spending tens of billions is not just for transportation. The important thing is that it draws more attention to you.
Clearly, when you see someone driving a supercar, you tend to wonder who the owner is, what they do to afford such an expensive car, right? Acquiring an expensive car attracts the curiosity of tens of thousands of people without needing any advertising, isn't that a remarkable feat? The resulting fame will indirectly help business endeavors progress more smoothly.
The second reason is that relationships are everything. Our ancestors said, "Rich because of friends, noble because of a wife." Acquiring a luxury car helps you easily connect with people of the same caliber, build relationships in business, enhance your reputation to attract more customers and important partners. If you can build a diverse customer base and reputable partners, money will flow into your pocket automatically, sometimes even more than the value of the car. Finally, buying a supercar is also a way for money to generate more money, through various behind-the-scenes dealings that only those involved understand.
For example, a business specializing in importing supercars and luxury cars revealed that most tycoons, after purchasing supercars or luxury cars, tend to increase the price a bit. For instance, a car bought for 10 billion dong is often claimed to be worth 15 billion dong. Some tycoons buy used cars but inflate the price to match that of new cars; this price inflation naturally enhances the tycoon’s reputation and makes them more admired and respected.
Another issue with inflating prices beyond reality is that it can be very beneficial later on; when selling the car, the selling price can be sky-high, and after selling, they might make a significant profit. In reality, some tycoons buy used supercars for around 50 billion dong, but in the media, they are estimated at about 70 billion dong, and when sold, they can go for over 100 billion dong.
Importing supercar businesses also reveal that it is not uncommon for wealthy individuals to buy luxury cars on credit; these tycoons always appear to be wealthy but end up running their businesses at a loss, living off borrowed money, and then disappearing, leaving creditors unable to recover their money. Under the guise of supercars, they buy luxury cars for themselves but use company funds, so personal expenses can be counted as production costs. This way, they get a VAT deduction, then in Vietnam, they drive the car for a few dozen or hundreds of kilometers before selling it back to the garage, with the sale proceeds returned to the company, while the car's depreciation is counted as an asset depreciation cost for the business.
Once again, they get to reduce their tax payments; the third step is that the supercar will be sold by the garage to someone else, and the profit will be transferred to the tycoon's personal account. Thus, buying and selling repeatedly, the tycoon's personal account keeps growing, but there is no connection to the business they own. All this money provides the tycoon with a way to profit. For example, they might invest in other business ventures so that when their old businesses encounter problems, or when authorities come knocking, they can apply the "molt" strategy, leaving the old business and starting anew as if nothing happened.
In 2023, the arrest of supercar king Phan Công Khanh revealed some insights into the network of luxury car trading in Vietnam. At just 30 years old, Phan Công Khanh is already a notable figure in the South. He frequently appears on social media alongside valuable supercars, sharing experiences of driving or supercar journeys with celebrities, and he is also the owner of a large supercar showroom called K-super. However, it turns out that the lot of supercars is not owned by Khanh but by many other owners. The displayed cars in Khanh's shop are consigned vehicles, and he profits from these transactions.
Coincidentally, Phan Công Khanh often shares that his idol is Cường Đô La. On July 19, Cường Đô La and his wife, model Đàm Thu Trang, both deleted all posts and images from their Facebook pages, and both accounts turned off the comment status. This move occurred right after dozens of police searched the home of Nguyễn Thị Như Loan, Cường Đô La's mother. She was detained and prosecuted for violating regulations on the management and use of state assets, causing losses and waste.