Introduction

Introduction

"Encourage cities with purchase restrictions to relax vehicle purchase restrictions and increase vehicle purchase quotas."

Author: Yang Jing

Editor-in-Charge: Yang Jing

Editor: He Zengrong

In the current domestic automobile market, some localities have imposed certain restrictions on car purchases. Currently, eight provinces and cities across the country have implemented vehicle purchase restriction policies, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Shijiazhuang, and Hainan.

Such policies aim to control the number of cars in the city, ease traffic congestion, reduce air pollution, and improve the quality of life of urban residents. Therefore, in these cities with purchase restrictions, citizens who want to buy cars cannot purchase them directly but need to obtain car purchase license quotas through lottery or bidding.

If one were to ask which city is the most difficult to buy a car, it would undoubtedly be the capital, Beijing. The winning rate of the lottery has always been low, and many citizens need to wait a long time to get the opportunity to buy a car. Followed by Shanghai, as an international metropolis, Shanghai's car purchase restriction policy is also relatively strict, and it is also not easy for citizens to buy cars.

The latest information shows that in Beijing, as of March 8, 2024, for the application of passenger car indicators, after review, there were a total of 624,330 valid codes for family ordinary passenger car indicators, 2,593,204 valid codes for individual ordinary passenger car indicators, and 40,723 valid applications for unit ordinary passenger car indicators.

However, in the first period of this year, only 9,600 license plate quotas can be given to families and individuals, and 400 to units. This year, Beijing's passenger car indicators total 100,000, but ordinary license plate quotas have been reduced to 20,000, of which families and individuals combined have 19,200 indicators that can be applied for.

Due to the reduction in license plate quotas, but the number of applicants has not decreased, the winning chances have dropped to 0.3%, meaning that the difficulty of applying for a license plate has increased. Simply put, it is harder to win a Beijing license plate through the lottery.

Compared to the tight license plate application situation in Beijing, the winning rate of Shanghai's license plate auction seems to offer a bit of breathing room. In June, the winning rate of the Shanghai license plate auction reached 15.4%, which means that relatively high chances are given to those participating in the auction to obtain a license plate.

In fact, since July last year, the winning rate of the Shanghai license plate auction has shown a significant upward trend, steadily rising from the initial 12.3% to 20.8% in January this year, undoubtedly giving many citizens who need license plates a ray of hope. However, starting from January this year, the winning rate has gradually fallen back to 15.4% in June.

Although the winning rate has fluctuated, compared to Beijing, the difficulty of obtaining a license plate in Shanghai seems slightly more lenient, which may be related to the different traffic management and license plate allocation policies of the two cities.

In the past two years, with the increasing prosperity of the domestic automobile market, both central and local governments have actively promoted automobile promotion activities and formulated a series of targeted policy measures to promote automobile sales and industrial upgrading. Local governments have also actively responded, combining local conditions, and introduced a number of specific measures to stimulate consumption.

These policies cover multiple aspects, such as tax reductions, car purchase subsidies, loan facilities, etc., aiming to lower the threshold for car purchases and increase consumers' willingness to buy. In the actual implementation process, these policies have indeed played a significant positive role. Many consumers who were originally holding a wait-and-see attitude chose to buy cars under the policy incentives, thus promoting the growth of car sales.

It can be said that this series of automobile promotion policies have indeed brought significant results to a certain extent. The increase in car sales has not only driven the development of related industrial chains but also injected new vitality into economic growth. At the same time, it also reflects the government's determination and wisdom in promoting consumption and expanding domestic demand.

Perhaps due to careful consideration of various factors, most of these previous car promotion policies did not touch upon cities with purchase restrictions. Cities with purchase restrictions have stricter controls on the number of cars due to their special traffic conditions, environmental pressures, and urban planning considerations, so the government may be more cautious when formulating relevant policies.

However, this strategy may also limit the car consumption choices of residents in cities with purchase restrictions to a certain extent, making the car market in these cities relatively independent and less affected by national policies. How to effectively stimulate car consumption while ensuring sustainable urban transportation and environmental development is a unique challenge faced by cities with purchase restrictions.

Now, after careful consideration and layered decision-making, this powerful "big hand" is finally ready to extend a friendly greeting to consumers in cities with purchase restrictions. This significant shift undoubtedly brings new vitality and opportunities to the automobile market in cities with purchase restrictions.

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the "Measures on Creating New Consumption Scenarios and Cultivating New Growth Points in Consumption." This document not only points out a new direction for the development of the consumer market but also provides specific paths for the expansion of the automobile consumer market in detail. Among them, the most noteworthy is the proposal to "expand new scenarios for automobile consumption."

The measures clearly state that cities with purchase restrictions are encouraged to relax vehicle purchase restrictions and increase vehicle purchase quotas. The introduction of this policy is undoubtedly a great blessing for consumers in cities with purchase restrictions. It is not only expected to alleviate the current contradiction between supply and demand in the automobile market but also effectively stimulate consumers' demand for car purchases and inject new vitality into the automobile industry.

The implementation of this policy is expected to significantly increase car sales in cities with purchase restrictions and also bring new opportunities for the development of related industrial chains. More importantly, it reflects the government's emphasis and support for the automobile consumer market, providing consumers with more choices and convenience.

Data shows that in 2023, there were 94 cities in China with over one million cars, an increase of 10 cities compared to 2022. Among them, 43 cities had over two million cars, 25 cities had over three million cars, and five cities - Chengdu, Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Suzhou - had over five million cars.

Interestingly, despite facing such a huge car ownership, Chengdu, Suzhou, and Chongqing have not implemented car purchase restriction policies. Anyway, these data not only reveal the huge potential and growth space of China's automobile market but also reflect the different strategies adopted by different cities in responding to the challenges brought about by the growth of car ownership.

From the current situation, the lifting of restrictions on new energy vehicles in major cities has become an obvious development trend. However, for specific cities like Beijing and Shanghai, whether to lift purchase restrictions still needs to consider various factors such as population size, environmental quality, urban development planning, and political and economic conditions. These factors collectively constitute the complexity of the decision to lift purchase restrictions.

One view is that after considering various factors, megacities like Beijing and Shanghai may still adhere to the purchase restriction policy for new energy vehicles. Due to their unique status and situation, lifting the purchase restriction may bring a series of chain reactions and needs to be treated with caution.

Relatively speaking, cities like Shenzhen have significantly relaxed the purchase restriction policy for new energy vehicles, showing a more open and flexible attitude. Overall, other cities should all have the conditions and possibilities to lift the purchase restriction on new energy vehicles. This trend预示着the wider popularization and application of the new energy vehicle market nationwide.