Bus Industry Needs More Policy Support
05 May 2009
According to Chinese Auto Association says that the car sale is up 3.88 percent in the first quarter. However, the sale of buses met a downturn of 36.38 percent in the same time. The worsen economy severely hit the business of bus manufacturers in China. According to Xiamen Kinglong United Automobile Co Ltd (King Long) statistics shows that the sales of King Long down by 33.6 percent year-on-year, to 1,956, during the first quarter. The sale of Xiamen Golden Dragon Van Co Ltd (Golden Dragon) plunging by 44 percent to 2,621 units.
According to a three-year industrial plan (2007-2009) issued by the municipal government, Xiamen plans to raise the capacity of its annual bus production to 40,000 units in 2010. For now, it is hard to fulfill the plan due to the financial crisis. Chinese bus makers advise government to purchase more buses for public transport and speed up elimination of old ones, at the same time, government should provide subsidies to bus makers to help them upgrade their production technology.
According to the Chinese government’s stimulus package for the auto industry, purchase tax on vehicles with engines displacement lesser than 1.6 liters, was reduced to 5 percent. But, most buses’ engines displacement are more than 1.6 liters, they do not get the benefit from the policy.
Source : english.chinabuses.com
Editor : Frederick
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