Stores see rise in cars from outside capital

Automobile service shops in Beijing have seen a surge in the number of vehicles registered outside the capital since the city introduced a license plate lottery in 2011 to limit new car purchases.

“Seventy percent of cars were bought and registered with Beijing plates five years ago,” said Ma Qian, who has worked for Beijing Junbaowei Motors Trading Co for seven years. “But that’s changed in the past two years, and now only 40 percent are registered in Beijing.

“It’s not surprising for us since the license plate quota began,” Ma added.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufactures, sales of vehicles in northern China, including Beijing, decreased 7.17 percent to 45,700 in 2017 compared with the previous year.

The lottery has also affected other businesses at the Laiguangying auto shops, the largest hub for auto dealers in Beijing.

“It’s obvious that it’s been more difficult to sell cars in recent years,” said Zhang Libin, a salesman for Mazda who has worked at the shop for more than two years. “We advise customers to buy cars when they’re sure that they’ve already got a plate.”

A policy to offer subsidies to encourage people to trade in vehicles in use for over five years has helped, but overall sales in Beijing are still slowing.

“It’s the long-term development policy for Beijing to relieve the pressure from vehicles,” said Ye Shengji, deputy secretarygeneral of the China Association of Automobile Manufactures. “The decline is a natural trend.”