Dubai Reg Plates Auction Selling Prices

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has raised Dhs27.75m by selling 80 car number plates at an auction on Saturday.

The RTA’s 95th licencing open plates auction saw four licence plates receiving the highest bid amounts, Dubai Media Office said in a statement.

Number plate R13 fetched the highest bid of Dhs2.92m, while number plate H33 was sold for Dhs2.82m. The third highest bid was received for licence number O69 at Dhs1.68m, while S66666 was sold for Dhs680,000.

The auction saw “fierce competition between bidders hailing from the all community segments”, a statement said.

Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency, said: “The Dhs27.751m revenue raised from the 95th Open Auction reflects the remarkable popularity of such commercial activity organised by RTA.

“The number auctions organised by the RTA are characterised by transparency and enthusiasm. They measure up to the aspirations of customers who seek exclusivity in this regard. Such auctions suffice the needs and aspirations of number plate enthusiasts,” he added.

The auction of exclusive number plates garners strong interest in the UAE.

In October last year, a Dubai-based Indian businessman bought the D5 number plate for Dhs33m in what was described as the biggest auction in the Roads and Transport Authority’s history.

Balwinder Sahani, owner of property management firm RSG International, beat competition from other VIPs to secure the plate after paying Dhs25m for the number O9 last year.

However, in November, an Emirati businessman who bought the car plate Number 1 for Dhs31m at an auction in Abu Dhabi was charged with fraud after his cheque bounced.

The Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution charged the man with fraud and sentenced him to seven days in custody.

So what are the top selling number plates in the UK? The DVLA has been selling private plates to UK motorists since 1989. During this time, there have been a number of records set, but most of the top 10 have been bought in the past 15 years. Here’s what currently makes the list:

25 0 – A Ferrari dealer bought this for £518k in 2014. It is now on a £10 million Ferrari 250 SWB.
F 1 – A businessman, Afzal Khan, bought this for £440k in 2008 and put it on his McLaren-Mercedes SLR.
S 1 – This was bought in 2008 for £404k by an anonymous buyer.
1 D – Businessman Nabil Bishara bought this plate in 2009 (before One Direction was formed, so it is not a reference to the band) for £352k.
M 1 – Businessman Mike McCoomb bought this number plate in 2006 for £331k, apparently for his son, who was 10 at the time.
VIP 1 – Chelsea owner and businessman Roman Abramovich bought this plate for £285k in 2006.
51 NGH – This number plate, which looks like the surname Singh, was sold in 2006 for £254k.
1 RH – Businessman Robert Haverson bought this in 2006 for £247k.
K1 NGS – This reg plate, which looks like the word “kings”, was bought anonymously in 1993 for £231k.
1 0 – This very simple but striking number plate was bought anonymously in 2009 for £170k.

These are large amounts of money, but they are all small compared to the top-selling number plates found in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has the record for the most expensive number plate ever sold. That number plate was a simple “1”. It was bought in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for £7.25 million.

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