Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 18) - Shanghai will auction off a total of 9,000 new personal license plates for February, jfdaily.com reported today. The amount is the same auction last month. The auction will begin this Saturday, with registration having already begun.
Monthly auction amounts for Shanghai license plates were set at 9,500 for the last few months of 2012. That amount was reduced to 9,300 plates for last December's auction.
License plate prices reached a new high of 75,000 yuan ($11,948) last month. The price of license plates on the second-hand market is now up to 81,000 yuan ($12,903). Officials from the city's Urban Traffic Management Department attribute the high ending prices of the auctions to the large demand for automobiles in Shanghai last year.
However, several auction companies predict license plate prices for February to be lower than they were a month ago. "Demand has been sapped up after last year," a representative from one of the companies said. The representative also pointed out that several Shanghai residents have left the city for the holiday, potentially bringing down prices.
Furthermore, Shanghai began accepting license plate registrations from owners of new energy vehicles last month. Around 50 new energy vehicle-specific plates are expected to be issued this month, which may help reduce auction prices even further.
