Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 9) - After more then a year of nonstop sales and incoming business, Hangzhou's automobile market has finally calmed down during the Chinese New Year holiday (February 2 to 8). "Spring Festival (another term for the New Year) is when we all stop doing business," a dealer was quoted as saying. The Qianjiang Evening News found that sentiment echoed among automobile dealers throughout the city.
Despite several dealers and service centers in the area being open for business yesterday, there were almost no potential customers about. The manager of one store was quoted as saying, "in one day we only have a few people." It's clear that one thing most people don't do with the spare time they have in the holiday is go to car dealerships.
On February 6, three days after the New Year, an employee for the Zhejiang Mikadi Cadillac 4S dealership said in an on-the-spot interview that, despite being open for business, they were not planning to sell any vehicles. "We've arranged to be open mainly as a service to people willing to take a look at cars," he said. The store's manager, Zhang Jianye, said that with January sales 40%-50% higher then last year, he doesn't mind the drop that Spring Festival brings.
That opinion is shared by other dealers in the city. "Not being able to sell cars during Spring Festival has already become a reality for the entire market," said Jinfeng Toyota's Acting Manager Xiao Yu. "On one hand new cars can't be registered [during the holiday], on the other hand insurance can't be bought [for them.]"
Consumers are also more patient during the holidays. "[I'll] just wait after Spring Festival passes," said Mr. Wang, who had been searching high and low for an SUV last year. "In March there will be more choices available."
Because Spring Festival sees simultaneous drops in both suppliers' intent to sell cars and consumers' interest to buy, the number of dealers closing for the holiday has increased substantially. Most dealers have already reopened yesterday, but consumers are not expected to be coming back until after Lantern Festival (February 17) at earliest. However businesses are still full of confidence, with one manager saying that they will be taking advantage of the post-holiday period to stock sold out and new models, so that they will be fully prepared for a fresh influx of customers in the Year of the Rabbit.
