BJ car rental market revs up

• Source: CNTV.CN
• [09:43 January 28 2011]
• Comments

Car dealers in Beijing are jostling to attract customers, as 17 thousand 600 car license plates have been allocated during Wednesday's lottery. And in contrast, the city's car rental market is going through boom times.

Beijing's car market is experiencing a difficult time of late, due to the municipal government's traffic curbing measures.

But car dealers still see opportunities to be had, as the city has just allocated almost 20 thousand car license plates.

One car salesman said "We're exploring potential customers based on our current resources. We get their contact numbers, text them and invite them to come here and pick their dream cars."

Presently, 400 car dealerships in Beijing are still in business. That's largely because they took a large number of orders before the new measures kicked in.

And car rentals are getting a boost. Since China's traditional Spring Festival is just around the corner, renting a car has become a favorite choice for many who are not qualified for the number plate lottery.

Shang Zonglin, General Manager of Car Rental Company said "Nearly 70 percent of the cars have been rented this month, up 12 percentage points over the same period last year."

Industry insiders say Beijing's car restrictions will certainly push more residents to rent cars, and those companies will be seeing boom times ahead.