Shanghai to sell 6,000 private car plates in Aug

Shanghai, August 14 (Gasgoo.com)  This month, Shanghai will have 6,000 new license plates of private cars up for auction, a quota which is 800 less than that of July, local Wenhui Daily reported yesterday.

The auction for these private car license plates will take place on August 23, said Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co Ltd in its latest announcement.

Of the 6,000 plates, 13 are for private motorcycle owners and 198 for corporate motorcycle owners, who change their motorcycle plates to private car plates.

The average price for a car license plate in July fell by 500 yuan ($73.5) to 34,491 yuan from a month earlier. The lowest winning bid edged down to 33,800 yuan. Both the average and lowest bid prices have dropped for three straight months.

About 16,700 people joined in Shanghai's license plate bidding in July, a sharp decline from the 21,208 bidders the previous month.

Starting last month, China's auto market saw downturn because of high fuel prices, sluggish stock market and mid-summer heat wave, analysts said. Many auto buyers were waiting, or scaling back their budgets.