On December 25, 2023, between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m., the premium license plate 22A-222.22 went up for auction. After 30 minutes of bidding, the final price reached an astonishing 12.19 billion VND (approximately $522,000 USD), equivalent to the price of a brand-new Mercedes-AMG G63 or a top-of-the-line Lexus LX600. This amount left many social media users in awe.
However, the winning bidder of the license plate 22A-222.22 failed to fulfill the necessary financial obligations to own this exclusive plate. As a result, almost five months later, on April 8, 2024, from 10:00 to 10:25 a.m., the license plate was auctioned again. This time, the highest bid for this premium plate was 5.13 billion VND (approximately $220,000 USD), falling short of the first auction by 7.06 billion VND.
The most important aspect was that during the second auction, the winner of the license plate 22A-222.22 fully paid the required amount, indicating that this exclusive plate with the most number ‘2’s in Vietnam had found a true enthusiast. This sparked curiosity among the online community and those who appreciate unique license plates, leaving everyone wondering which vehicle the winner would register with this distinctive plate.
Recently, the answer was revealed, and it took many by surprise. Instead of a new-generation Range Rover, Lexus LX600, Mercedes-AMG G63, supercar, or luxury vehicle, the plate was registered to a relatively old luxury sedan, the Lexus LS460L.
Currently, on used car selling websites, the Lexus LS460L is priced between 980 million VND and nearly 3 billion VND, depending on the vehicle’s mileage, age, and accident history. Even at the highest price of nearly 3 billion VND, the value of the car is still far below that of the license plate 22A-222.22.
This is not an uncommon occurrence, as premium license plates with high values have been registered to older vehicles in the past. For instance, the license plate 51K-888.88, which was auctioned for 15.2 billion VND, was registered to a vintage Toyota Crown with a market value ranging from 500 million to 1.2 billion VND.