Posted on Automotive News on July 6, 2007
ALYSHA WEBB
Automotive News | July 6, 2007
SHANGHAI -- Beijing has more than 3 million cars on the road. And 2.5 million of them, it seems, are stuck in a traffic jam on the third ring road.
The Shanghai government wants to avoid such gridlock. So it sells a limited number of license plates in an auction each month. In May, the top price was 47,711 yuan, or more than $6,000.
Do you think the high price will stop people from buying cars? Not likely. The rising price of gasoline is having a bigger impact on consumer habits. People are turning to small, fuel-efficient cars.
So far, foreign automakers haven't produced a license-plate-priced car. I'm sure they're working on it. Meanwhile, small cars by domestic Chinese automakers are selling like bowls of noodles.
The best-selling model in the country, the Xiali Charade small car made by First Auto Works, costs less than a Shanghai license plate!
Ford Motor Co.'s partner, Changan Automobile Co., launched the Ben Ben late last year. (I have to laugh at the name because "ben," using a different character, means dumb in Chinese.) Changan sold nearly 28,000 of the midget-sized cars in the first five months of the year. A Ben Ben starts at 40,000 yuan, or $5,260.
In the really small category, Chery Automobile Co.'s QQ minicar goes for just 33,000 yuan, or $4,300. General Motors has an entry in that segment, the Chevrolet Spark. Actually, GM charged that the QQ was a copy of the Spark. That dispute was settled behind closed doors. The Spark goes for around 46,000 yuan, or just over $6,000.
So I lied. A foreign automaker has come out with a license-plate-priced car. But the QQ sold 59,400 units in the first five months of this year, triple the number of Sparks sold.
Print | posted on Friday, July 06, 2007 8:49 AM