Used cars sales shifting into overdrive

By Li Xiaoshu

China's used car sales are expected to outpace new car sales by 2020, a sign of the middle class' growing appetite for personal vehicles in the midst of flourishing economy, the Beijing-based China Automobile Dealers Association predicted Monday.

"Driven by market forces and an evolving auto consumption culture, the used-car trade is entering its fastest growth period ever," Shen Rong, deputy secretary general of the association, told the Global Times Monday.

Major Chinese auto dealerships recently reported double-digit jumps in used vehicle sales, with 259,700 used cars traded nationwide in January, up 44.15 percent from the same period last year, according to statistics from the association.

The market witnessed 25 percent annual growth over the past five years, with annual volume estimated to reach 20 million units by 2015 and 40 million in 2020, the association said Sunday.

Responding to public skepticism over the recently enacted auto purchase-restriction policy in the capital, which reduces selling options for Beijingers that do not have hukou (permanent residency) in the city, Shen believes that while new car shoppers remain cautious, they are not shy about trading in their used wheels in other administrative areas.

"The policy forces used-car dealers to consider multi-regional marketing channels, which help to facilitate (dealership) resource integration, mergers and regrouping."

Beijing's used vehicle sales in January declined 84 percent to 6,148 units, while 65 percent of them were sold to regions outside the capital.

Insiders warned that the growth in the used-car sector may create huge dealership staffing shortages.

Guo Chunyan, a PR official at a major Toyota dealership in Beijing, expects that in the near future, 40 percent of sales staff will need specialized used-car sales training, including price evaluations, technical appraisals and vehicle mechanics. "It's equally important to win new buyers and settle their trade-in needs," Guo told the Global Times.

According to a study from the association, China is short of some  150,000 used vehicle sales staff. To help meet demand, the association started their first training course for second-hand agents Monday. Nearly 4 million second-hand cars were sold in China last year.