China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II) will continue to
work closely with its foreign partners to develop "safe, economic,
energy-saving and environmentally friendly" small cars for
consumers both at home and abroad.
"The future development of the small car sector will mainly focus
on technical upgrading and the introduction of new models through
cooperation with foreign companies," said Song Jingang, deputy
general manager of
AVIC II.
AVIC II, which owns Hafei Automotive Co, the Changhe Automotive Co
Ltd and Shaanxi Hanjiang Automobile Co, produced 43 per cent of
China's small cars last year.
During the first five months of this year, the three companies
produced 164,000 small cars and sold 151,000, which represents a
year-on-year increase of 25.5 per cent and 13.4 per cent
respectively.
Jia Xinguang, chief analyst of the China National Automotive
Industry Consulting and Development Corp, said China's small car
makers should try to improve product quality and services to beef
up their role on the domestic market.
"China's auto manufacturers should not give up the country's huge
small car market because of the price wars," he said.
The mini car has become popular among Chinese people because of its
small size, cheap price and flexibility, he said.
Experience from Western countries suggests that demand for vehicles
speeds up when a country's per capita gross domestic product (GDP)
reaches US$1,000. China's per capita GDP is expected to reach this
level in about two years.
Different from developed countries, China has a large population
mainly consisting of medium to low income groups.
Therefore, demand for low-priced small vehicles will be higher than
for medium-and high-priced vehicles, Jia said.
According to an official surnamed Du who works with the China
Automotive Industry Association, the Chinese small vehicle industry
has already generated one third of the country's total auto
output.
With advanced technology introduced from abroad, China's mini-
vehicles are up to international standards, Du said.
Domestically made small vehicles have already been exported to
Southeast Asia and South America.
With the aim of encouraging domestic demand, China needs to map out
a new automobile consumption policy, said Niu Li, a senior
economist with the State Information Centre.
"Although the prices for automobiles have dropped, the fees and
taxes for consumers are too much," he said.
Jia said the fees and taxes for automobile consumption in some
Chinese provinces accounted for about 50 per cent of automobile
prices.
"This was higher than a 15 per cent value-added tax imposed in
Germany, a 10 per cent consumption tax and purchasing tax in Japan
and a 6 per cent sales tax in the United States," he said.
The most serious problem was that local authorities are placing
limits on the use of private and mini vehicles, he said.
(China Daily June 10,
2002)