Olympic plate sales top 100,000
B.C. motorists have now bought more than 100,000 Olympic licence plates.
ICBC had aimed to sell between 100,000 and 150,000 of the plates through a sponsorship deal that assists VANOC in hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. ICBC called the pace of sales “tremendous” and beyond expectations.
“Selling 100,000 plates is a real milestone,” said Dave Cobb, VANOC’s executive vice-president of revenue and marketing. “It’s also a very tangible sign that excitement is continuing to build throughout the province.”
The plates have been on sale for just over a year and cost $35 – part of which ICBC keeps – plus $25 a year in annual renewal fees that go entirely to VANOC for use of the 2010 logo and name. VANOC is to pull in at least $15 million under the plan.
NDP critics have slammed the scheme as a back door way for a provincial Crown corporation to subsidize the Olympics without the money being counted as part of the total Games bill.
A total of 64,000 plates have been sold so far in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, where sales are far ahead of other parts of B.C.
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