More imported sedans to fuel market
8/4/2004 15:51
Foreign auto giants will begin to introduce more high-end products to
China to boost the sluggish imported car market, the Jiefang Daily reported
today.
Volkswagen AG offered its luxury SUV Touareg in Shanghai yesterday,
priced at 1.09 million yuan (US$131,000), and two other luxury models,
Volkswagen Phaeton and GM Cadillac, are also expected to enter the Chinese
market soon.
However, whether or not the arrival of the high-end vehicles
will be able to inject new blood into the sluggish imported car market is still
up in the air, said an industry analyst.
As of the beginning of this year,
the domestic imported car market has cooled down, with most car prices declining
by 5-10 percent from the end of last year.
Popular high-end models such as
Mercedes-Benz and BMW saw price reductions of up to several hundred thousand
yuan, with the Benz S600 and the BMW760Li dropping from 2 million yuan to 1.75
million yuan.
Prices for imported sedans under 500,000 yuan declined by as
much as 30,000 yuan.
The sluggish market has made licenses for imported cars
less popular, with license prices declining from more than 100,000 yuan last
year to 7,000 yuan.
China's commitment to the World Trade Organization, as
of January 1 next year, requires an end to special licenses for imported cars,
so no one will currently take risks to purchase the high-priced licenses,
according to an industry observer.
The presence of many popular sedan models
produced domestically is another reason for the sluggish imported car market, he
added.
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
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