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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Shenzhen
Car dealerships face closures, job cuts
     2014-December-31  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    AFTER a crazy night at Mazda 4S car dealership in Xiangmihu Auto City, which sold more than 200 cars in two hours, Zeng Qinghai, a salesman, said he felt rather relaxed yesterday, as there were far fewer visitors.

    Zeng, who has been in the car sales business for three years, also wondered what he would do after the Spring Festival holiday, as the car business is doomed to shrink because of the city government’s new rule, which limits car sales to 100,000 a year.

    “When police officers entered our shop at around 6 p.m. Monday and restricted car buyers from entering the hall to make transactions, all our employees signed contracts in the streets with buyers and demanded that they pay in cash,” said Zeng.

    “In the ‘crazy hour’ between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., car buyers didn’t care about colors, models or prices of the cars, they just paid the money to get a car before the government started to limit car sales,” he said.

    The quota of 100,000 cars, 20,000 of which must be electric, is too small to keep the city’s 2,000 used car dealerships and 200 4S shops (authorized dealerships) open for business.

    “Our company sells about 160 cars a month, or 2,000 cars a year, but the total yearly quota is only 100,000. I can’t see a future for our company,” Zeng said.

    Shenzhen has seen a 16 percent average annual increase of registered vehicles over the past five years, and in 2014 alone, a total of 550,000 vehicles were registered.

    “Car sales will be cut by 80 percent because of the rule and many car dealerships will be closed due to lack of business,” said Wu, the manager of a car dealership in Longgang Xinyi Auto City, during a phone interview.

    Shenzhen suspended registration for new cars starting Monday, giving 25 days for car buyers to apply for spots in the allotted yearly limit, which will be allocated through auctions and lotteries.

    Used car dealers said that the new rule was a heavy blow to their businesses, as authorities have requested that they make notarized inventories before Jan. 26, meaning they won’t be able to do business in the coming month.

    “We can do nothing but wait for the government to allow us to resume selling our inventory,” said a manager named Luo Qiyin with Jiehe Secondhand Car Shop in Wantongda Square, Futian District. The company has more than 100 cars in its inventory, worth more than 10 million yuan (US$1.63 million).

    Making matters even worse, used car dealers won’t have enough cars to sell after their inventories are gone, as it will be almost impossible to get a spot in the quota for selling used cars.

    Their only hope is to sell vehicles to people from other cities that don’t restrict the sale of vehicles.

    “It should be said that the impact on the used car market is far greater than on the new car market and that the prospects are gloomy,” said Luo.

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