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Auto market future mixed

By Shangguan Zhoudong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-05-07 11:05

Many automakers experienced sales declines in April compared with March this year, triggering great anxiety about China's auto market in the future.

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The soaring consumer price index (CPI) and slowing world economic growth bring too many uncertainties to China's auto market in the second half of this year, according to many automaker executives like Dongfeng Nissan vice general manager Ren Yong and Dongfeng Honda executive vice president Liu Yuhe, at the Beijing Auto Show in April.

Auto sales in the first two months of this year were stable, but in March, growth in the retail market nearly stopped, the China Business News quoted an automaker's general manager in charge of marketing as saying.

Due to CPI growth, auto price has been a hot topic among consumers. A survey conducted by Sinotrust, a leading domestic auto research firm, 71.6 percent of consumers surveyed don't want to see auto price hikes in 2008, 13.6 percent say price hikes will occur, and the remaining 14.7 percent say they will 'wait and see.'

But Li Chunrong, vice president of Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Company, said China's auto market will continue to grow as Chinese economy's upward trend continues.

Latest figures from the price supervision center under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) suggested Chinese domestically manufactured vehicle prices edged up 0.15 percent in March month-on-month, but down 3.17 percent year on year.

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The full text is available in the May Issue ofAuto China