香港奢华汽车的个性车牌文化

香港街头经常可见奢华汽车的身影，色彩炫目的奔驰(Mercedes-Benzes)、劳斯莱斯(Rolls Royces)、法拉利(Ferraris)和玛莎拉蒂(Maseratis)等名车每天在乘客与行人面前招摇过市。
Flashy cars are a common sight in Hong Kong, where passengers and pedestrians witness a daily pageant of boldly colored Mercedes-Benzes, Rolls Royces, Ferraris and Maseratis.

但香港市民Jackie Rain想要比他的橙色奥迪TTS更具回头率的东西：一副写着“MR BEAN（憨豆先生）”的车牌。大约一年半以前，他在公众拍卖会上花10,000港元（1,290美元）拍得这副车牌。
But Hong Kong resident Jackie Rain wanted something even more eye-catching than his orange Audi TTS: a license plate that reads 'MR BEAN.' About a year and a half ago, Mr. Rain paid 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, or US$1,290, for the plate at a public auction.

香港对豪华进口汽车征收的税率为100%，因此汽车发烧友们愿意用数千港元的价格购买“个性车牌”装饰他们的爱车。
In a town that levies a 100% tax on luxury imported cars, auto enthusiasts readily pay sums in the thousands of dollars to accessorize their vehicles with vanity plates.

为了给政府的一个慈善基金筹集资金，香港运输署自2006年起开始拍卖个性车牌。该项业务自此越来越火。拍卖过程与众不同：希望购买某个车牌的个人提交申请并预缴最低保证金645美元。喜欢相同车牌的车主可随意出价，价高者得。
Ever since Hong Kong transport officials began auctioning vanity plates in 2006 to raise money for a government charity fund, the service has taken off. The process is a bit unusual: anyone wishing to buy a plate submits the proposal along with a US$645 minimum bid. Rival car owners who might fancy the same moniker, however, are free to offer more.

并非所有车牌均有人争。本月早些时候，“WELCOME（欢迎）”和“PERFECT（完美）”均以最低价拍出。相比之下，一副字母为“FA（发）”的车牌更受欢迎，拍出18,000美元的高价。另一位竞拍者用近12,000美元购得一副写着“STORAGE（仓库）”的车牌。
Not all plates draw competition. 'WELCOME' and 'PERFECT' both sold at an auction earlier this month for the minimum. But a more popular plate reading 'FA' went for about US$18,000. Another bidder sank nearly US$12,000 into a plate that read 'STORAGE.'

自2008年末金融危机影响香港的金融公司之后，车牌拍卖收益像其它奢侈消费一样有所下降。例如，2010年1月的拍卖收益仅为281,000美元，与2008年1月约770,000美元的拍卖收益相比下降了约64%。
Like other luxury spending, auction proceeds have dropped since the financial turmoil that rocked the city's financial firms in late 2008. This month's auction, for instance, generated about US$281,000, down about 64% from the January 2008, auction, which took in around US$770,000.

中国幸运数字的拍卖价格也较高，香港拍卖幸运数字车牌已有多年历史。早在上世纪90年代初，一位香港大亨就创纪录地用168万美元购买了牌号为“9”的单字车牌。该数字的中文发音与“久”谐音。
Chinese lucky numbers also go for big figures, and the city has been auctioning lucky numbered plates for years. In the early 1990s, one Hong Kong tycoon paid a record US$1.68 million for the single-digit registration number '9,' which in Chinese sounds like a word for longevity.

尽管个性车牌在美国也很流行，但美国人却并不习惯于为它们花大钱，其价格一般由各州的机动车管理机构确定。
While vanity plates are also trendy in the U.S., Americans aren't accustomed to paying much for them, and the fees are generally determined by the state departments of motor vehicles.

加利福尼亚州个性车牌的价格不到100美元。该州将此类收入用于各类环境、教育和其它慈善事业。弗吉尼亚州驾车者为保有定制车牌的权力每年只需多花10美元。
Fees in California-which earmarks these revenues for various environmental, educational and other causes-amount to less than $100. In Virginia, drivers pay an extra $10 annually for the privilege of customizing a mark.

在香港，个性车牌的流行催生了一个活跃的二级市场，到处都是所谓的代理人，他们代表竞拍者出席拍卖会，或查找已被私家车主持有的特定车牌。
In Hong Kong, the popularity of vanity plates has spawned a lively secondary market, replete with so-called agents who offer to attend an auction on a bidder's behalf or ferret out specific tags already held by private car owners.