Lawmakers lobbying Chinese govt for small car incentives?
Lawmakers in Beijing appear to be lobbying the government to introduce incentives to further the small car market in China. Last year just over 700,000 small cars (i.e. cars with engines less than 1.3l) were sold in China, which accounted for only 11.6% of total vehicle sales in China. High gasoline prices, and worsening air pollution seems to be the major factor in pushing for incentives to ignite the small car market. The sales of small displacement cars in China did actually fall in 2007, whilst larger sedan sales rose. Furthermore, Chinese consumers only bought 250,000 vehicles in 2007 that had a displacement of less than 1000cc. The lobbying lawmakers are asking the central government to lower, or cancel sales taxes on small displacement vehicles, make road tax cheaper and perhaps even introduce free parking zones for super mini drivers.
The below article from Gasgoo, details how 80% of Chinese consumers wouldnt drive a small car:
A recent survey conducted by Sinotrust found that more than 80% of Chinese car buyers choose to buy vehicles with engine displacement between 1.3L and 2.0L; only less than 20 percent opt for vehicles with displacement of 1.3L or smaller.
Sinotrust, a supplier of marketing solutions and credit solutions in China, surveyed 15,000 car consumers on small displacement vehicles.
“The small displacement vehicles are usually poor in driving experience, comfort, and safety compared to larger vehicles. Therefore I would rather spend more money on a larger vehicle, such as Polo, Fit or Peugeot 206,” a car owner told Sinotrust.
Most small-displacement cars, including Chery QQ, FAW Xiali and Changan Benben, cannot meet Euro III emission standard yet and will be banned in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
Last year China’s low-small segment vehicles sold 765,977 units, down 7.2 percent year on year, mainly due to the sluggish sales of key models, like Chery QQ(11,019 units, down 34.1 pct) and ChangAn Benben(1,973 units, down 43 pct)
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I can see it now. Another rush to rebadge your car.
.
No sir, that is not a 1.8L under there. Just look at the back. It is a 0.8L!
I’m glad to see that lawmakers are getting even MORE agressive when it comes to incentives for consumers to buy small cars – too bad the USA can’t learn from this. Reduced or even NO sales tax? Reduced or NO road taxes? Potential FREE parking zones? Let’s see……that BYD F1 that I’ve been thinking about would qualify – I think the Chery A1 would as well. How about the Great Wall Peri? Now – what the car manufacturers need to do is ADVERTISE the hell out of these small cars……I think the average consumer isn’t aware that ALL of the small cars I just mentioned have ABS, EBD, dual airbags, power windows, CD/MP3, air conditioning – these aren’t cheap, bare-bones cars anymore! The other thing – ALL of the aforementioned cars DO qualify to be sold in Beijing, so no restrictions on sales markets. Show the public that you CAN get safety and style along with economy and sales/tax incentives, and they’ll buy them……chinese consumers are NOT stupid people. Throw in a bonus like free parking zones (especially in places like Beijing and Shanghai) and it’s a no-brainer! Sign me up – no sales tax and free parking zones sounds pretty damn good to me!!
Jon,
Those small cars are pretty well packed for the money, but even I often wonder how well they would take a ramming from a bus/truck/larger car?
The A1 has a funny rattle in the door when you close it, it doesnt have that hefty thump like you would get with any other car.
Good point Ash…..I look at it this way. The MAJORITY of driving that people do is city based – in other words driving at speeds of 40-60 kph (or slower). Yes, you have ring roads (80-100 kph) and then highways (110+) – but for a lot of the daily grind it’s going to be city speeds. At city speeds, I think these small cars will at least protect you well enough to mean the difference between life and death (something I probably would not say with a Tata Nano or even a QQ). At highway speeds probably not…..but then again ANY car can get crunched pretty bad at highway speeds! It’s also pure speculation when it comes to the BYD F1 – for all we know the body is as thin as tin foil to keep the costs down (woxihuanpijiu, you saw them at Guangzhou – what’s your impression of car body strength regarding the F1??). In any case, it’s STILL amazing to see small cars with all of these features – 5 years ago almost NO chinese cars had ABS (let alone EBD or airbags)!!
“more than 80% of Chinese car buyers choose to buy vehicles with engine displacement between 1.3L and 2.0L”
I could only wish here in New York City or the rest of the USA for that matter that 80% of the people would have enough sense to purchase vehicles with engine displacements between 1.3L and 2.0L.
Two vehicles I personally own are a 1990 Toyota Celica ST with a 1.6litre engine and a 1990 Honda Civic EX also with a 1.6litre engine. I get around fine in city driving which is most of what I do. Unfortunately too many Americans prefer to drive large sport utility vehicles and pick up trucks. And they drive rather arrogantly in those oversized vehicles.
C240,
I often wondered of the American love affair with 3.0l and above cars. What purpose do they serve? Is there something that a 2.0l (or 2.5) RWD truck cannot do that a 4.0l F150 can?
There are plenty of American readers, hopefully someone can give some more insight!
Actually Ash……there IS one advantage the bigger trucks have – TOWING POWER (i.e. torque). Construction companies use the big trucks to tow equipment/supplies…the more torque the better for towing heavier objects. Also, there are those who own boats or big RV trailers – a 24-26 foot weekender style boat can weigh 6000-8000 lbs. (3000-4000 kilos)and a 2.5l engine just can’t do it. Beyond that though…..soccer moms do NOT need 4.0l engines in their SUV’s!!! I think this “big engine complex” that pervades the USA stems from the good ol’ days of muscle cars and cheap gas (I’m talking 40-50 years ago when gas was 15-20 cents a gallon) – some people (a lot of people actually) still think that a big engine rumbling down the open road is the way to do it. These are probably the same people that never bother to travel OUTSIDE of the USA and see what is REALLY going on in the world – they have NO IDEA that most of the world is quite happy with engine sizes in the 1.0-2.0l range. It’s no coincidence that energy use PER CAPITA in the USA is the HIGHEST in the world – far above ANY other country.
How much does a fully laden caravan way (aimed at UK readers!) for comparison?
Will incentives make people swap to buying smaller cars? I doubt it. Largely I think it will result in more cars. The reason is that the people that can afford the larger cars will buy them anyway. Afterall they have better status and maybe safety plus those kind of people aren’t concerned about the fuel price. What it will mean though is that now more people can afford a car and so people who previously didn’t own a car will get a car with a smaller engine displacement.
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