China's 1st impounded gov't vehicle auction fetches $1m

A total of 106 official vehicles expropriated by the Chinese central government were auctioned Sunday for a combined 6.6 million yuan (1.06 million U.S. dollars) amid enthusiastic bidding.

People examines cars that wait for auction on Jan. 25, 2015 in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

With multiple bidding rounds for many items and strong applauses given to winners, Sunday's total hammer price was up 2.748 million yuan, or 71.17 percent, from the pre-sale estimate, according to a statement from Zonto, a Beijing-based auction house running the auction.

A Toyata sedan estimated at 90,000 yuan was sold for 210,000 yuan, the top price at Sunday's auction.

"Judging from the scene, people showed a very high level of enthusiasm for the auction, and they were fully involved in the bidding," said Xu Yongsheng, a senior official with the National Government Offices Administration overseeing Sunday's auction.

These official cars were among more than 3,000 ones that were taken out of service as part of reform measures that began last July to slash spending in this area.

Bidder Xing Tiandong has been targeting the auction for a long time and carefully examined the cars during a pre-sale exhibit, but the high prices at the auction put him off.

"The price for a new low-end Roewe car is around 140,000 yuan, but a second-hand one at the auction hit 110,000 yuan. I thought it was too high," Xing said.