Gasgoo.com (Shanghai April 22) - Members of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) held a summit a few days ago regarding the automobile market, as Auto Shanghai 2011 went into its third day, Caing.com reported yesterday.
Rao Da, general secretary of the CPCA, was recorded as saying that Chinese automobile market was facing the dual problems of two years of overconsumption as well as the new legislation limiting vehicle purchasing. Mr. Rao said that the market's excessive expansion is causing more and more serious contradiction with the society as a whole.
In order to sustain GDP growth, China had implemented vehicle purchase stimulation policies in the past few years. Despite rapid growth in the market, increasingly serious pollution, severe traffic problems and rise in traffic accidents had caused the policies to become more and more controversial. Mr. Rao said that other developing countries should learn from China's example. He estimated that growth this year may only reach 6 percent or so.
Mr. Rao added that increasing tensions in the Middle East and the recent earthquake in Japan also were contributing factors to declining growth in the market. He said that he worried about how the automobile market would influence the economy overall.
