BJ New Car Sales Surpasses 700,000 units

　　The 2009 White Paper on Beijing Automotive Consumption

　　The White Paper on Automotive Consumption in China's Major Cities was issued by the China's Major Automotive Media Federation and edited by Sohu Auto.

　　According to the statistics revealed by the Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange Market, in the year of 2009, new vehicles sales in Beijing totaled 700,100 units, up 42% compared with the same period of 2008. At the same time, the used cars sales in Beijing also surged. In 2009, the sales reached up to 450,000 units with an increase of 12.5% compared with 2008.

　　Mainstream Models Offered Less Discounts.

　　According to the information from Xinhuanet.com, the prices of several mainstream models had been steadily rising after the New Year's Day in the year of 2009. At the same time, the concessions decreased. As to the mid-size car, the manufacturers of the eighth-generation Accord and Camry had conducted price adjustment for several times. At some secondary dealerships, consumers would get only 10,000 yuan discount when buying Accord and 11,000 yuan at most when buying Camry. Moreover, the lineup of vehicles was incomplete. In addition, at some 4S dealerships, the margin of preferential concession was lower due to a smaller inventory. Consumers had to book a car prior to purchasing. A salesman working in Guangzhou Honda 4S dealership said," Majority of the vehicles held by secondary dealerships are older models. Therefore those secondary dealerships are able to offer more preferential concessions. Now 4S dealerships almost have no cars. With the Spring Festival coming soon, it is impossible for dealers to obtain vehicles in large-scale. Therefore now first we have to meet the order demands. Demand is higher than supply, resulting the increase of prices."

　　At present the prices of most mainstream models are rising. For example, 4S dealerships only offer 3,000 yuan for consumers to buy Nissan's new Tiida. Moreover, consumers have to wait to get the car. The margin of preferential concession for Guangzhou Automobile Honda new Fit was once 15,000 yuan at most. Now the top-level discount has fallen to 6,000 yuan. The discount for Shanghai Volkswagen's Magotan has dropped to about 5,000 yuan from 8,000 yuan.

　　SUV models are popular.

　　The SUV market has been booming from the beginning of 2009 to the end of the year. For Dongfeng Honda, FAW Toyota and Guangzhou Automobile Toyota which have a strong hand in SUV market, CR-V, RAV4 and Highlander remain the hot models in the market. Domestic brands such as Great Wall SUV have also attracted consumers' attention. Based on the situation in the year of 2009, most SUV models did not enjoy purchase tax concessions. However, the personalized concept has attracted a lot of consumers, especially the young drivers. The total sales of SUV in 2009 have increased by more than 42%.

　　The prices of some used cars have jumped due to a smaller inventory.

　　Sun Weikang, the appraiser of Beijing Zhongjin Used Vehicles Economic Ltd., said," Today I just received a Jetta. Yesterday I got a Dongfeng car. Now it is too difficult to collect used cars." It is reported that in Beijing used cars market, the popular models with the price range from 50,000 yuan to 150,000 yuan have embraced an increase of sales price. The limited inventory resulted in difficulties for consumers to buy a car. At the same time, since many used-car buyers have a limited amount of cash at hand, they may turn to loans instead.

　　1. The price of old Jetta rose by 1,000 yuan.

　　Sun Weikang said,” It is difficult to collect used cars. Once a customer intends to sell a Jetta, a number of dealers will fight to buy it. You have to raise the price if you want to buy it. Since the purchase cost jumps, the sales price will definitely increase, which is easy to understand." Su Weikang told the Beijing Evening News that “current the price of second-hand Jetta has risen by 1,000 yuan".

　　According to the data from Huaxiang Used Car Trade Market, the inventory of the "Old Three" models whose sales prices were about 100,000 yuan is quite limited. The inventory of Xiali, Fukang is obviously in shortage. At present it is a good time to sell those models. If you want to buy a used car, you have to face a tough situation-high price and limited source. In contrast, the “Old Three" models including Passat, seventh-generation Accord and Mazda M6 are not as popular as before since there are more and more new models in the same category. The price of used cars in middle and high level market is declining and it is a good time to buy it.

　　2. Short supply of new cars "brings problems" to used car market.

　　The used car market suffered from the problem of high price and short supply. A large number of used car buyers turn to new vehicles. They thought that since the price of a used car is higher than expectations, they'd better choose a new one.

　　Wang Meng, the staffer working in Huaxiang Used Car Trade Market told the Beijing Evening News that this month there are little changes in terms of the overall inventory compared with last month. The overall inventory is limited and the main reason is the short supply which directly results in consumers' hesitation. When dealers face problems during purchasing cars, they cannot sell used vehicles as well. That kind of situation will directly exert impacts on the inventory and price volatility of used cars.

　　The price of middle and low-class models has stopped the downward trend. The price of some models has bounced back, especially those popular models with a price from 50,000 to 150,000 yuan. For example, currently the price of Jetta has risen by 1,000 yuan. The price of Tianjin Xiali and Chery models has stayed steady. However, the inventory of Xiali, Alto and Fukang is obviously insufficient. Wang Meng said:" The price problem is not the most important thing. The key problem is that for consumers the room for choice is actually shrinking. A lot of potential buyers aiming at purchasing a car priced at around 100,000 yuan found that the inventory was insufficient and the price was high. Therefore some consumers have to turn to buy a new car or increase budget to buy a more expensive model. For example, they can choose Passat produced by Shanghai Volkswagen whose inventory is becoming larger and price has fallen by 1,000 yuan. (Translator: Qinghua/Hanxin)

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