Automotive market shows resilience amid downturn in China

Despite China's auto industry facing a tough time last year, the used car sector performed well and is expected to sell 14 million units for 2018, which would mean record highs for three straight years.

Luo Lei, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that used car sales had shown resilience because national policy allows the removal of trade barriers among provinces.

The growth is lower than the forecast 15 million because of macroeconomic slowdown and a downturn of the new car market last year, Luo added.

According to CADA statistics, 12.6 million used cars were sold from January to November last year, an increase of 12.84 percent year-on-year.

In November, the sales of used cars reached 1.28 million, up 11.32 percent year-on-year. Among them, 39.38 percent are priced less than 30,000 yuan ($4,370), accounting for the largest market share of used cars.

The statistics of Car 300, an app for the valuation of used cars showed that sedans accounted for 65.92 percent of used cars for sale in November, a slight drop compared with October.

SUVs lagged far behind, with 275,000 units sold in that period.

In terms of brands, Volkswagen was the best-seller with 140,700 cars sold in November - 12.72 percent of total used car sales in China. Toyota and Honda ranked after Volkswagen.

In the meantime, new energy vehicles started to appear in the used market.

CADA statistics showed that 800 used electric cars were sold in November.

Compared with traditional models, used electric cars have a shorter service life.

According to CADA, used electric cars less than four years old accounted for 98.12 percent of them sold.

Used electric cars will become the mainstream of the market within four years, Luo said.

In addition, CADA forecast the demand for used cars will increase and more people intend to buy a used car this month ahead of the Spring Festival.

Meanwhile, the market bears great pressure from discounted new vehicles and other factors.

Zheng Shuwei, director of the Department of Market System Development at the Ministry of Commerce, said in late December that the used car market has great potential and will drive the development of the auto industry.

According to Zheng, used car sales are usually more than 1.5 times of the new car sales in developed markets.

This is especially so in the United States and Germany, where used car sales are more than double that of new cars.

In China, they represent 43 percent of new car sales.

China's car parc - the number of cars and other vehicles used in a region or market - is far lower than that of the developed countries. In the medium and long term, China's population, economy and residents' income will keep increasing, so there is still room for growth, he added.

"With the increase of car parc, changing consumer culture and optimization of the market environment in China, the huge market potential will direct the development of the automobile market in the future," Zheng said.

The Ministry of Commerce will revise guidelines and focus on the automobile circulation chain to promote the development of the auto market for its next step, according to Zheng.