Guangzhou registration volume hit new high

　　2009Automotive Consumption Survey of Guangzhou White Paper

　　Registration volume of passenger cars up 33.88%; higher than the provincial average

　　According to the latest data from authority departments such as Traffic Management Bureau, in 2009 registration volume of passenger cars totaled 683,799 in Guangdong Province, an increase of 31.04%compared with 2008. Among them, with the amount of 152,235, a growth rate33.88% compared to the year before, Guangzhou overtook Shenzhen and was crowned provincial champion by a narrow margin of about 1300 vehicles passenger cars. With the highest registration volume of 6977 units, Camry became one of the best-selling models in the year of 2009 in Guangzhou.

　　Registration volume hit a new high

　　According to Guangzhou Daily, despite bothered by negative factors such as short supply, approaching deadline of 2009 preferential purchase tax fully encouraged the consumer purchasing power, which enriched the orders received by dealers in December of last year.

　　“In November, sales rose 35% compared to October. In December growth exceeded 60%.” a dealer of BYD in Guangzhou told the reporter. BYD, who tried most hard expanding the network, reached a Registration volume of37142 last year, up 98.8%.

　　The reporter learned that in December last year, many dealers had a year on year sales growth of about most 30%. The sales of several Dongfeng Nissan 4S stores broke 200 units that month. One Chang’an Ford dealer in Huangpu Avenue also exceeded 160 units that month.

　　At the end of last year, the new car sales in Guangzhou could be described crazy.

　　The related Data showed that in December last year, registration volume of Guangzhou, reached 22,706 units, which meant every day there were 732 passenger cars. Meanwhile the year on year sales growth got to the peak of the whole year. The explosion in the last month wrote finis to the hot 2009 Guangzhou auto market and brought along a new monthly sales record of 96 352 units. It was reported that the highest point of annual sales all appeared in December in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Foshan.

　　Referring to the registration volume in Guangdong Province last year, Guangzhou overtook Shenzhen and was crowned provincial champion for the first time by a narrow margin of about 1300 vehicles passenger cars. From April last year, strong signs of economic recovery in cities such as Shenzhen and Dongguan drove new car sales. And finally the growth rates of all Guangdong’s cities in the whole year exceeded 27% over the previous year. Besides, Guangzhou has become one of the few cities whose registration volume higher than the provincial level.

　　Top-selling Camry

　　Compared to A-class cars, although the market share of B-Class cars slightly declined 0.5%in 2009, the main Class B models still showed a very strong vitality.

　　According to statistics, last year two of the three top-selling were B-class models. Among them, with a registration volume of 6977 units, Camry won the title. Corolla was in the number two position with a volume of 6792, followed by the new Teana who caught up from behind. It is worth mentioning that in December, with a registration volume of 1017, last year the new Teana overtook Camry and Corolla, becoming NO.1 in the list of best selling models in Guangzhou.

　　A class car segment got the most benefits from the incentive policies in 2009. The sales of small displacement (lower than 1.6L) cars were comprehensively upgraded. The market share of A-class cars exceeded 50% in 2009. Among the top ten models, seven were A-class cars. Among them, the Top three models Corolla, Bluebird SYLPHY, CITY performed rather excellently. Elantra gained the highest year-on-year growth rate, which was more than 200%.

　　As for the ranking of the auto enterprises, with a registration volume of 24 335 units, Dongfeng Nissan became the sales champion in 2009. The fastest rising Guangzhou Toyota benefited much from the impact force of new Highlander and lasting excellent performance of Camry. With a sales volume of 10752 units in the whole year, Guangzhou Toyota ranked the fifth place in the list.

　　Senses back in 2010 after explosive growth

　　A new vehicles registration volume of more than 150,000 units last year, which meant there were 12,600 vehicles licensed every month, hit a new high in Guangzhou province.

　　Benefited from the simulative policies, in the year of 2009, auto market won an explosive growth from a relatively low starting point. The booming auto market, not only made the price remained stable throughout the year, but also held back big price cuts and incentives at the end of the year. Also due to the bullish market, many auto manufacturers began to expanded production capacity and distribution network.

　　However, since the scale was expanded, this year manufacturers also face the issues such as to integrate resources and balance the interests and profits of distributors.

　　With the foundation of 2009, car manufacturers will definitely raise their sales target in the coming year. However, both dealers and manufacturers appear to be quite cautious about the number should be increased.

　　As for the 2010 auto market, within the industry there have been talks about inflection point theory, saying that the current prosperity of automobile market will be swept away and explosive growth is about to slow down. Undoubtedly, the stable prices and hot sales in 2009 were mainly because demands were greater than supplies and closely originated from the government incentive policies. However, in 2010, new incentives policies will be adjusted and favorable terms for purchase tax will get shrank. In this case, how long will this kind of explosive growth and the enthusiasm of consumers kept?

　　Although the industry can not give a clear time limit, undoubtedly, after the peak, it is inevitable the development of the auto market will be steadily slow down.

　　(Translator: Yalong/Jessie)

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　　http://auto.sohu.com/20100421/n271651216.shtml