Luxury cars are increasingly irresistible for many Vietnamese, say industry players who report rising sales even as daily life becomes harder for the majority struggling to cope with one of the world’s highest rates of inflation.

Audi’s A6, launched at the Vietnam Auto Expo last month, costs almost $142,000 — which would take the average Vietnamese worker 182 years to earn.

Yet Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Audi and other high-end brands are increasingly common on the narrow streets of Hanoi, where they vie for space with the motorcycles which are standard transport for most people.

Prada hits the Hong Kong bourse on Friday, but the luxury brand may see its share price sag thanks to choppy global conditions.

Concerns that Prada’s stock is overpriced, and a tax hurdle that could shrink investors’ profit, may also dampen enthusiasm for the Italian company.

Prada last week reportedly sold 423.2 million shares at HK$39.50 ($5), raising a less-than-expected $2.14 billion.

You don’t have to tell the people at Prada how valuable the Chinese market for luxury goods has become — the Italian fashion icon is so keen to set up a base out East that it is about to be listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

In fact, such has been the rush by the world’s luxury brands to get a foothold in China that there are, apparently, little to no spaces left for them in the malls of the country’s largest cities.

Bad news for the brands themselves — keen to get a slice of a market estimated to be now worth 84 billion yuan (nine billion euros) a year — but it is good news for China’s fast-growing number of online luxury-only shopping portals.

As the buying power of China’s masses continues to spiral upwards, more and more information is being gathered focusing not only on what they like to spend their money on but how they go about spending it.

This week it has been the turn of the international audit and advisory services firm KPMG to release its report into the spending habits of mainland Chinese.

It found that 70 percent of the country’s consumers of luxury brands search the internet each month before making their purchases. What’s more, 30 percent claimed they searched online for information on luxury items each week.

Labelux, the European private luxury group that owns Bally, has acquired Jimmy Choo for over £500m from TowerBrook Capital.

Jimmy Choo was founded in 1996 in London by Mellon, a former Vogue editor, and shoemaker Jimmy Choo, who sold his interest in 2001.

TowerBrook Capital Partners bought Jimmy Choo in 2007 for £185m. It has developed the company into a global brand.

French labels are the most sought-after luxury products for Chinese shoppers as a booming economy creates a growing legion of newly affluent consumers.

French brands are the top choice for mainland buyers, followed by those from Italy and Hong Kong, consultants KPMG said in their report “Luxury experiences in China”, based on a survey of 1,200 consumers from 24 cities.

“China continues its march towards becoming the largest luxury market in the world,” said Nick Debnam, the firm’s head of consumer markets for Asia Pacific.