Gasgoo.com (Shanghai July 17) - A recent study by the National Development and Reform Commission's Price Monitoring Center reveals that downward trends for prices of both domestic and foreign automobiles continued into June, Caijing reported today.
According to the NDRC survey, which covered 36 different cities, domestic vehicle prices in June fell .08 percent from the previous month and 1.22 percent from the previous year.
Prices of domestic passenger automobiles fell .1 percent from May to June and 1.9 percent from June 2011 to June 2012. SUV and microvan prices witnessed year-to-year declines of 3.05 percent and 2.68 percent, respectively. Sedan prices grew .48 percent from May, but were still .16 percent lower than last June.
Chinese commercial vehicle prices declined slightly less than those of passenger automobiles, decreasing .05 percent from the previous month and .5 percent from the previous year. Small bus prices decreased the most from the previous month, falling .34 percent. However, they were still .08 percent higher than last June. Large bus prices grew .06 percent from May, but fell 1.71 percent from the previous year. Truck prices fell .12 percent from May to June, but grew .48 percent from last June.
On the other hand, prices of import vehicles fell for the second time last month. They decreased .56 percent from May and 2.55 percent from last June. The decline in foreign sedan prices was especially noteworthy, falling .42 percent from May and a full five percent from last June. Import SUV prices fell .7 percent and .04 percent from the previous month and year, respectively.
According to NDRC Price Monitoring Center Analyst Cheng Xiaodong's analysis, in the second quarter of the year, several manufacturers have tried to deal with the growing imbalance between supply and demand by lowering prices in order to stimulate sales. However, these attempts have done little to arouse demand in the market as a whole. Mr. Cheng predicts that rising inventory levels and low demand levels will force manufacturers to reduce prices even further in the latter half of the year.
