China vehicle registration data hard to come by

Shanghai, March 12 (Gasgoo.com) China's traffic authorities have controlled the country's vehicle registration data, which are kept as secret and expensive information. At this year's session of the National People's Congress (NPC), Zuo Yan'an, an NPC deputy and the chairman of Jianghuai Auto, put forward a motion calling for unveiling of the country's vehicle registration data, China Youth Daily reported today.

Currently, China has three major sources of the auto sales data: the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), and the registration data of the traffic authorities under the Ministry of Public Security. The CAAM only issues the wholesale figures, different from the actual retail sales figures, and the sales figures released by CPCA are controversial. Only the vehicle registration data are believed to be accurate as the reliable barometer of the auto market.

But the traffic authorities have never made the registration data available to the public and industry. The Ministry of Public Security has explained that the related information system is "not ripe" for unveiling these data, and these registration data are related to the privacy of citizens. Solutions to these problems will be explored later, the ministry added.

Mr. Zuo said that as the vehicle registration data contain no state secret and will not harm the benefits of the auto industry and consumers, the Ministry of Public Security should carefully study this issue and release the vehicle registration information as soon as possible. These data are urgently needed for car makers, dealers and customers to know more exactly about the auto market and industry.

Industry insiders mentioned "an open secret" that some auto companies have to spend a large sum of money buying the registration data of their vehicles while the traffic authorities keep these data secret. The price for the data purchases is said to range from tens of thousand yuan to one million yuan ($1=6.83 yuan).