Beijing's new car license applications hit 215,425 in January
- Source: Xinhua
- [08:28 January 10 2011]
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The Beijing transport authority on Sunday revealed it had received 215,425 new car license applications, after this month's application period closed late Saturday night.
But only one tenth of the applicants will get license plates this month, as only 20,000 new license plates are now issued each month in Beijing under its new license plate lottery system, or 240,000 for the year.
Beijing launched the new system on Jan. 1. Under it, car license applications are received in the first eight days of the month, and then a lottery is held on the 26th day of the month.
In 2010, a record 800,000 new cars came onto Beijing's roads.
"I didn't expect there were still so many people who wanted new cars," said Beijing resident Liu Jie, one of the January applicants who thought the new system would have turned people off wanting a new car.
He was not optimistic about getting a license plate. The chances were too slim.
Because of the restriction on the number of license plates issued, the city's car sales would inevitably drop this year.
Sun Hui, an marketing expert with the China Automobile Dealers Association, predicted 50 to 80 of Beijing's 420 car dealerships would be forced to close.
A car dealer surnamed Liu said he had booked an early train ticket to return to his family home ahead of Spring Festival.
"I haven't sold a single car after New Year's Day. I'd better pack my things and take a holiday," he said reminiscing about his sales record of nine cars during the same period last year.
Sun Hui said car dealerships would have to shift their focus from Beijing to surrounding markets such as those in Tianjin Municipality, Hebei and Shanxi provinces to make up for losses here.
This was echoed by Li Feng, executive deputy general manager of Beijing Hyundai Motor Co.
"Beijing is just one of China's many booming automobile markets. Car makers now have to move to smaller cities to take their chances," Li said.
Chinese automakers are readjusting their sales expectations for Beijing. Leading auto producers -- including FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai GM -- are still working out their sales targets for Beijing this year.
Shares of domestic car makers including Dongfeng Automobile Group, Great Wall Motor and BYD have slid on the domestic and overseas exchanges over the past week.
The Chinese government's economic stimulus plan for coping with the global economic downturn boosted car sales over the last two years. China sold 18 million vehicles last year, reinforcing its position as both the world's No. 1 car producer and seller.
Beijing Municipal Committee of Transport's figures showed in 2009 alone more than 510,000 new cars hit road -- the total number of vehicles on Hong Kong's roads.
In 2004, Beijing started a series of traffic control measures and invested heavily in public transport. However, the measures until now have proved largely ineffective due to the ever increasing number of new cars hitting the road.
