Oman Daily Observer

China’s auto industry coaxes drivers back to showroom

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BEIJING: China’s auto industry has gone from zero to sixty in its postpandem­ic campaign drive, with manufactur­ers and dealers quick to woo back lockdown-weary consumers through campaigns as unusual as a makeup-promoting personalit­y touting car leasing.

Social media celebrity Lipstick King urged millions of fans on a livestream­ed shopping show to sign up to a lease deal for General Motors Co’s Cadillac CT4 compact sedan.

“This colour has the sense of ‘I’m in charge’ independen­ce,” he said, displaying a scale model of a chocolate-coloured CT4.

The plug is just one part of an eruption of promotiona­l campaigns featuring steep discounts, cold-calling and gimmicks, from an industry obliterate­d by government restrictio­ns on movement imposed in January to curb the spread of a virus which in China has infected 81,000 people and caused 3,300 deaths.

The economy shrank 21 per cent in January-february with sales in the world’s biggest vehicle market last month plunging 79 per cent. Retail sales of passenger cars dropped 45 per cent in the first three weeks of March, and the China Associatio­n of Automobile Manufactur­ers does not expect demand to normalise until the third quarter.

With authoritie­s gradually easing restrictio­ns, automakers and dealers have started the engines on their promotiona­l machinery to undo what consulting firm IHS Markit described as an “unpreceden­ted and almost instant stalling of demand”.

US electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc has launched test-drive and delivery services involving no staff contact, while Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd is delivering disinfecte­d cars and dropping off keys with drones.

The EV unit of Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd is even testing a system to perfume its Aion LX SUV with the aroma of traditiona­l Chinese medicine.

SAIC-GM-WULING — a venture between SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, US maker GM and a local partner — on February 25 started offering up to 11,000 yuan off purchases of its Wuling and Baojun brand vehicles, until the total discounts given reach 1 billion yuan ($141.69 million). Buyers also get medical masks.

Seeing the promotion, restaurate­ur Wang Zhiyuan, 37, visited an SGMW dealership in Beijing earlier this month and received a 2,000 yuan discount on a Wuling Hongguang commercial minivan.

Family sauna equipment supplier Mo Xiufeng, 40, was at the same dealership viewing the same vehicle to make a purchase he had been chewing over since before the lockdown.

“I haven’t been able to come in the meantime because, fearing the virus, I didn’t want to leave my home,” he said.

The dealership sold just 20 vehicles in February. It targets March sales of 100, versus an average of 500 before the virus.

Due to the campaign, SGMW’S nationwide is a picture of even quicker recovery. A spokeswoma­n said March registered at least five days of sales surpassing 5,000 vehicles, with one day reaching 6,000, exceeding last year’s daily average. At the beginning of February, sales were around 200.

Still, industry bodies have called for government help including purchase tax cuts on small vehicles, support for sales in rural areas and eased emission rules. The China Automobile Dealers Associatio­n has lobbied for loans to dealership­s and temporary liquidity support such as credit lines.

Local authoritie­s in cities that rely heavily on vehicle manufactur­ing, such as Guangzhou in the south and Ningbo in the east, have also started to offer purchase incentives.

With authoritie­s gradually easing restrictio­ns, automakers and dealers have started the engines on their promotiona­l machinery to undo what consulting firm IHS Markit described as an ‘unpreceden­ted and almost instant stalling of demand’.

 ?? — Reuters ?? Employees work on an assembly line manufactur­ing Audi Q3 cars at the Faw-volkswagen Tianjin plant in Tianjin.
— Reuters Employees work on an assembly line manufactur­ing Audi Q3 cars at the Faw-volkswagen Tianjin plant in Tianjin.

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