Things took a dramatic turn when liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya fled the country early last year to avert loan repayments to banks and lenders. In a bid to recoup lost money, Mallya’s assets were put for auction and the latest valuables to come for lenders’ rescue is the fleet of luxury cars once owned by Mallya. Thirty cars were auctioned last week which included globally renowned models from the likes of Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Maserati and Alfa Romeo.
The e-auction was conducted by Delhi based Quippo Auctions and saw aggressive biddings for some of the exotic vehicles. In total, 40 cars were put for auction and most of them were sold, although there is no concrete information on the total proceeds from the auction. Just so you know, the cars are now owned by United Spirits, the Indian subsidiary of UK liquor giant Diageo and were auctioned in tandem with company’s plan to sell non-core assets as confirmed by their spokesperson.
Vijay Mallya’s Auctioned Cars
Among the slew of cars auctioned, here are some of the desirable luxury models- Maserati Quattroporte, Rolls Royce Ghost, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Rolls Royce Phantom, 1903 Humber, Bentley Flying Spur, Porsche Boxter, Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class and Wolseley. Other models that were also a part of the auction include BMW 750i, Mahindra Jeep diesel, Mercedes-Benz SLD< Lancia Vintage and Bentley Super Sports.
In addition to these, Mallya also owned Maruti Omni, Mahindra Scorpio, Ford Endeavour, Toyoat Camry, Toyota Qualis and Maruti Alto to name a few. While most of the luxury cars from the auction are available in India, some of these models were imported specially to India. From the range of vintage cars, Wolseley participated in most of the vintage rallies in the country and was sold for over Rs 1 crore. Mercedes’ S-Class that ended with 0001 was another car that fetched a great deal.
Most of the above mentioned cars had a reserve price, but were sold at a relatively higher price. For example, if a car had a reserve price of Rs 12 lakh was sold for 3-4 times more, one such model was Rolls-Royce 204 Phantom.
