Car measures spark buying panic
- Source: CNTV.CN
- [08:31 December 28 2010]
- Comments
New measures have worried consumers and urged them to snap up cars as soon as they can.
Beijing's municipal government has unveiled sweeping measures to limit the number of cars next year. Only registered Beijing residents will be able to get a license plate. This has set off a rush to buy cars. Some dealers are extending business hours late into the night.
New measures have worried consumers and urged them to snap up cars as soon as they can. One finds even late in the evening, customers communicating with sales consultants about the final steps of buying a car.
One car buyer said "I rushed to here to buy a car as soon as I learned that people who are not Beijingers can not buy cars in the city. I just want to obtain one and get a license plate, no matter which brand or type."
One sales manager of a car store said "Clients are very much rushing."
On the sales floor at a local dealership we see a lot of car purchase contracts in the table. Sales consultants are busy informing customers that they must use their invoice to register their car with local authorities.
One sales consultant of a car store said "No matter who is buying cars, they must to put it all on record. Or the government does not ratify the license plates and you have to attend lottery system."
In Beijing, car ownership surged to nearly 5 million vehicles this year, which brought heavy traffic problems to the city. In an effort to ease traffic chaos and deepen an expected slowdown for the auto industry, Beijing has decided to limit new vehicle registrations.
