Limousine Production Enjoyed a Good Beginning in January

According to statistics of NBS, 126.8 thousands of limousines were produced in the whole country in January, hitting a new record of monthly output and up by 1.2 times over the same period of previous year. This good beginning laid a solid foundation for the high-speed growth of limousine market in 2003.

Since the unexpected exploded growth of passenger car market last year, limousine manufacturers have been busy with launching new products and expanding production capacity. The demand for new models distinctively exceeds the supply all the while, and even some old models were sold out before Spring Festival. In this case, limousine manufacturers boosted output from the beginning of the year in order to get an advantageous position in market competitions this year.

The limousine output of SAW reached 44.4 thousand in the month for the first time and hitting a new record, up by 1.3 times over the same period of previous year, wherein the monthly output of Passat exceed 10 thousand. The output of Tianjin and Chang-An Motor grew by 2.6 times and 1 time respectively; the output of Hainan, Xi'an Qinchuan, Beijing, Shenyang-China and Hafei went up from one time to several times. The output base of limousines in the first quarter of last year was low, esp. less than 50 thousand limousines were produced in February last year, therefore, the limousine output in February this year may be doubled.

Major limousine manufacturers all planned to expand production greatly this year, and they lowered the price of some models even at the beginning of January. At the beginning of last year, the price of some medium or low-end models was lowered mainly, and the price of medium and top-grade models kept stable, so the price war of limousines was mostly developed on medium and top-grade limousines priced between RMB 150,000 and 250,000 this year. At the beginning of January, Buick Regal and New Accord were launched to market with low price, which stroke the eyes, and brought pressures on limousines priced the same. Along with new models being launched, the relation of market supply and demand shall be changed greatly, the production and sales volume of some old models that are not advantageous in comparative cost (including sub-new models that have been launched to market for about one year) shall drop sharply, and some models are going this way for the time being.