Beijing's auto sales crash
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Beijing car dealerships endured a cold, lonely Christmas after the city announced Thursday an annual automobile-registration cap that went into effect Friday but failed to immediately relieve congestion.
According to the Beijing News Daily, the number of jammed roads in the city reached more than 120 at 6 pm Friday, slightly fewer than the record-breaking 140-road congestion seen September 17.
"Friday and Christmas Eve, on the same day, mean a traffic nightmare," a taxi driver surnamed Liu told the newspaper.
The new regulations, announced Thursday after a series of citywide debates on how to fight the capital's traffic gridlock, include restricting the licensing of new vehicles to just 240,000 in 2011, increasing parking charges and expanding public transportation.
In 2010, more than 700,000 new cars were sold in Beijing, bringing the city's total number of cars to more than 4.7 million, the Xinhua News Agency reported, citing statistics from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport (BMCT).
According to the Shenyang Evening News, more than 20,000 cars were sold Thursday alone.
However, despite being touted as the toughest congestion-tackling measure in history, the new regu-lations are a far cry from what the general public sees as the best way to ease traffic.
Zhong Shi, a senior auto market analyst, told the Global Times that the new rules shed little light on Beijing's urban planning, which he called the root of the problem.
"Beijing's traffic problems were the legacy of the past, beginning with the unscientific city structure," he said.
"By separating residential districts from business districts, we artificially divided the city's functions, therefore the long distances between people's workplaces and their houses and shopping malls resulted in heavy traffic," he added.
Song Guohua, a professor specializing in urban planning at Beijing Jiaotong University, echoed Zhong's opinion, adding that the Beijing government encouraged people to buy cars before building more parking areas and roads.
"Unfortunately, this mistake is being replicated in many other cities in China right now," he said.
An official from the BMCT told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that Beijing's roads take up only 13 percent of the city's area - a minimal amount compared with the 33 percent proportion seen in some major cities overseas.
"The large number of official cars is also a problem," she said. "Although the Beijing government pledged to freeze the increase of official cars in the next five years, it has no say in the number of vehicles purchased by state organs."
A woman surnamed Liang, who lives in the north of the city but works downtown, blamed the problem on skyrocketing housing prices.
"Commuters like me, who live in suburban areas, have to buy a car. Or we at least need to drive to a nearby metro station. If housing prices were not so high, I could have bought a place near my office," she said.
Although there are many issues the new regulations fail to address, one point seems certain - 2011 will be a tough year for car dealers.
Zhong noted that Beijing already has China's largest auto market, regarded by manufacturers as a gold mine.
"The licensing restrictions blew up the gold mine, and manufacturers are now more worried that other cities will follow Beijing in enacting similar policies," he said.
Wang Yang, a salesperson at the Beijing Qingyang FAW (First Automobile Works)-Volkswagen 4S shop in Fengtai District, told the Global Times that in just under two weeks before new rules came out, his deal-ership sold as many cars as it normally does in a month.
However, the numbers took a major hit over the weekend, and sales aren't expected to rise anytime soon.
"Our customers decreased by 80 percent compared with usual times," Wang said. "Let's say a salesperson sold 20 cars per month in the past. Now, he will sell just 10 cars in the same period of time."
He added that the store is now working hard on countermeasures for next year's downturn.
"Next year's sales in Beijing will be much less than what we achieved this year. After-sale service will be our key focus to win over and maintain our clients," Yang Guang, a PR officer with Guangqi Honda Automobile Co Ltd, told the Global Times.
Yang said the new rules could alleviate the increase of cars by inhibiting consumption, but the government has a lot of work to do to improve the city's public transportation and upgrade its infrastructure.
Du Fangci, assistant general secretary of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told the Global Times that restrictions on car purchases will definitely make manufacturers reduce their productions, and the country's auto industry will be hurt if more cities follow in Beijing's steps.
"Low- and medium-end cars will bear the brunt of the impact as consumers find it harder to get a plate for a car," Du said.
He warned that the new rules may also hinder the technological development of the country's auto industry if producers turn to rural markets, where low-end cars are the main focus.
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