Number of private cars soaring
17/6/2003 15:30
Shanghai had 167,000 private cars at the end of last month, accounting
for 37 percent of local cars, and the number is expected to top 200,000 by the
end of the year, the Xinmin Evening News reported yesterday.
Numbers of
local private cars have soared over the past five years, reaching 7,000 in the
year 1998 and jumping to 83,700 at the end of 2001.
The number of private
sedans increased by nearly 27,000 in the first five months of the year, a jump
of more than 30 percent from a year before.
Local sedan manufacturers
continued to enhance their production during the SARS period, with 217,000
locally made sedans in the first five months of the year, an increase of 64.8
percent from a year before, far exceeding other Chinese cities.
Shanghai
Volkswagen Automotive Company Ltd produced a total of more than 63,400 sedans in
April and May, with 19,913 Passat sedans produced over the past two months, and
its monthly sales volume exceeded 10,000 last month.
Individuals and
private companies in the city are required to bid for a license plate before
buying a car, with the number of issued plates increasing to 5,500 this
month.
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
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