China’s Vehicle Inventory Alert Index drops to 59.3% in March

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China's VIA (Vehicle Inventory Alert Index) stood at 59.3% in March, a month-on-month drop of 27 percentage points, mainly thanks to the effective containment over the novel coronavirus, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA).

However, the number still exceeded the official warning threshold, and was 7.2 percentage points higher than that of a year-ago period.

Since the coronavirus abated, the market demands were climbing due to the rise in consumers' trips, gradually bringing the auto industry back on track. As of March 31, 95.5% of automobile dealers have resumed works nationwide, according to a survey done by the CADA.

Last month, some consumers who dropped the car buying plan in January or February determined to bring cars home. Thus, the sales volume apparently grew, directly lowering the inventories for dealers.

Many OEMs cancelled the Feb. sales targets they set for dealerships to help them weather the virus-hit month. In March, dealers were no longer free from the sales evaluation as most automakers restored the goals.

The survey shows that dealers are calling for rapid issuance of governmental incentives on spurring car sales, said the association, in case the short-term sales growth is curbed by consumers' wait-and-see attitude towards the uncertain policies.

Compared to the previous year, the imported & premium brands, the mainstream joint-venture brands, and Chinese indigenous brands all posted remarkable decrease in VIAs, which stood at 55.7%, 60.2%, and 61.3% respectively.

Consumers' car shopping demands are unlikely to soar in the short run until the viral disease is completely eradicated. The CADA proposed that authorities should design and launch policies to boost auto consumption on such fronts as increasing license plate quota, subsidizing automobile scrapping and replacement, reducing or exempting vehicle purchase tax, facilitating used car transaction, and putting off the implementation of the China Ⅵ emission standard.