Gasgoo.com (Shanghai May 26) - Pessimistic opinions on the future of the Chinese automobile market are becoming more and more common, with sales results in April, the first time the industry showed negative growth in 27 months, only adding to the worries. According to a survey among industry experts conducted earlier this month by Gasgoo.com (Chinese), nearly half of the participants held grim outlooks for the latter half of this year.
3,812 insiders from all across the industry participated in the survey, with 47 percent of the respondents believing that growth in the market will not exceed 5 percent, or exhibit negative figures. 40 percent of the respondents anticipated 5 to 10 percent growth.
Several factors were cited among the participants, including exceedingly high sales in the past two years, the increased price of oil and auto parts, the phasing out of preferential vehicle purchase policies, more congested traffic and higher taxes. Additionally, 78 percent of the respondents opposed government intervention as occurred in the US, believing that the market should take its own course.
