The average price for a car plate in Shanghai, long a bone of
contention, yesterday unexpectedly plunged to a six-year low at the
first auction for 2008 under new rules enacted by the municipal
government.
However, a breakdown in the bidding system, both via Internet
and phone hotlines, is believed to have contributed in part to the
price decline and drew complaints from many eligible would-be
buyers.
The average auction price was 23,370 yuan (US$3,218), less than
half of the record high of 56,042 yuan in December, according to
Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co, organizer of the
monthly event.
It was the lowest price since the 24,040 yuan recorded in
September, 2002. The price beat market speculation which widely
tipped about 30,000 yuan as the average price.
And the lowest successful bid yesterday plummeted to 8,100 yuan,
compared with 50,000 yuan a month earlier.
It was also the third lowest price since the monthly auction
system started in the city in 2000, trailing 100 yuan in December,
2002, and 10,800 yuan in May, 2004.
About 20,539 bidders competed for 16,000 licenses this month, as
the city government moved ahead the February quota due to the
traditional Lunar New Year, which falls on February 7.
The city started the new rules this month, which allow more
bidding opportunities and open the lowest successful price to the
public during the auction process. This helps people make their own
decisions rather than rely on dealer advice.
"I never thought the price could drop so much," said a woman
named Yuki, who won her bid with 16,900 yuan. "I had planned to
offer 45,000 yuan."
Yuki was one of the lucky ones. Many people were barred from
even making a first offer due to the breakdown in the bidding
system.
Zhu Junyi, director of an auto research department under the
Shanghai Economic Committee's Information Center, said about 10,000
eligible people failed to make bids due to crowded traffic on both
the Internet and the hotlines.
Many said they could not log into the online bidding system nor
access the hotlines from the first round of bidding at 10 a.m.
Others said they were not able to change their price in the
second round of bidding due to Internet and phone-line
hold-ups.
"The final price is basically set on bidders' first offer and
many people failed to revise their price, causing the huge gap
between the lowest and the average winning prices," Zhu said.
"The municipal government had an emergency meeting after
receiving many bidders' complaints."
Wu Yi, vice director of the Shanghai Urban Transport Management
Bureau, said earlier that the city has invested to upgraded the
bidding-system technology.
But he also said the system could become overloaded if a large
number swamped the lines simultaneously.
While many bidders hailed the new rules that controlled soaring
price, Zhu warned that the average price could still rise in
following months.
"This month's price is not likely to be the benchmark for the
whole year due to the system problems," Zhu said. "Many bidders
still offered 30,000 yuan and up to 50,000 yuan."
Shanghai is the only city on the mainland to issue plates by
auction and the average price has increased fivefold over the past
seven years.
The next auction will be held in March on a date to be
announced.
(Shanghai Daily January 13, 2008)
