Domestic Bus Prices Keep Stable
21 July 2009
"One of the characteristics is stability, and it is one that is different from previous years", said Jiang Xin when analyzing the price trend of passenger cars in the first 5 months of the year. He is head of the market research department of the website cheshi.com.cn.
According to statistics posted by cheshi.com.cn, the overall price index of passenger cars in May decreased by 0.1 compared with April, and all segmented markets saw only slight movements in the price, maintaining in relatively stable conditions. It is informed that the price index is calculated through a system of computational methods using the local auto retailing prices collected by cheshi.com.cn in more than 40 major Chinese cities.
"The price index in May showed only slight decrease even compared to that in January. The price of the market in the first 5 months has stayed in a very stable condition without any essential fluctuation. There have been only minor adjustments". It is told that a curve chart that reflects price index fluctuation shows a sharp decline from 2004 to 2007, but the declining trend slows down in 2008, and in 2009 it stays basically even. When analyzing this condition that is different from previous years, Jiang Xin believes it shows to certain extent that after years of development of the auto market, the consumers, manufacturers, and dealers have become more mature in their behavior and mindset, which leads to the reduction of both excessive supply and supply shortage, putting the supply-demand relationship in a more balanced condition. Therefore the price fluctuation remains trivial. In the global economic crisis, "some people have estimated that the auto market this year may suffer a recession. They have all sorts of predictions about the price. However, statistics so far suggest that transactions in China's auto market are currently in a normal and sound state, of which the stability in price is a reflection."
In light of the various segmented markets, the price of C-grade vehicles in May stayed even with that in April. The price curve of mainstream car models, such as Audi A6L and BMW 5 series, stays nearly on a straight line. "Significant fluctuations are not likely for cars of this grade in the near future, for the competitors, competing models, and the consuming groups of this market are rather stable. The changes of exterior factors do not affect the market very much."
Compared with C-grade cars, the price index of B-grade cars in May saw a 0.2 decrease, the biggest decrease among all the segmented markets. Jiang Xin suggests that the main reason is that auto manufacturers are now attaching great importance to the B-grade automobile market. They are putting more competing car models into the market and the consumers are having more choices. The competition is getting more intensified. One trait of this grade of vehicles is that there is large room for price reduction, which makes it possible for manufacturers to lower the price so as to attract the consumers. So it is not very surprising that the price of B-grade cars falls.
As for the decrease of 0.1 in the price index of A-grade vehicles, Jiang Xin considers it to be a systemic adjustment. "Generally speaking, the overall trend of vehicle price is downwards. The current condition that it is stepping down bit by bit suggests that the market is in a relatively mature stage." The price index of A00-grade vehicles fell by 0.1 compared with that in April. The prices of key models all witnessed slight decreases. Besides normal systemic adjustment, when an important new model enters the market, it will also inevitably affect the price. It is understood that the competition scene of the A00-grade vehicles underwent some changes when Geely's Panda was put into the market this year. Such car types as QQ3 and others have taken measures to lower their prices one after another. It is therefore quite normal that there is small adjustment in the price index.
June is conventionally a slack season for the auto market. Jiang Xin predicts that the price of passenger cars will still undergo only minor fluctuations. "With the booming months of September and October, the price decrease in the second half of the year will be greater than that in the first half. But there will be no fundamental changes in the trend".
Source : internet
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