Beijing dealers of Kia, Ford cars make losses

Shanghai, December 29 (Gasgoo.com) Almost all Kia and Ford dealers in Chinese capital of Beijing are witnessing losses amid vanishing market confidence, Jinghua newspaper reported today.

In Beijing, none of the ten authorized dealers of Chang'an Ford Mazda can achieve the full year target for 2008. No dealer of Chang'an Ford Mazda and Dongfeng Yueda Kia Auto can make any profits before the end of this year, the newspaper said.

A salesperson at a Dongfeng Yueda Kia dealership told reporters that it loses some 2,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan on every car sold. Dongfeng Citroen and Dongfeng Honda are also losing money with almost each car that leaves the show room floors.

The report said because of pessimistic anticipations for the economy, consumers are moving away from buying costly products like cars and the situation is unlikely to change until the second half of next year.

Other statistics show that a majority 80% of China's auto dealerships have become loss-making businesses and even gone bankrupt nationwide by the end of this year, while only 20% of the dealerships have gained profits.