Q1 Bus & Coach Sales Disappointing in China
2009-05-05 Source：english.chinabuses.com
Summarize：In the first quarter of 2009, China’s bus & coach sales plunged by over 33.3% y/y. Some experts believe that the plummeting market demand and an absence of government support are the main two re ...
In the first quarter of 2009, China’s bus & coach sales plunged by over 33.3% y/y. Some experts believe that the plummeting market demand and an absence of government support are the main two reasons to blame.
According to a report by China Quality Daily, in the first quarter of this year, China sold 23,500 units buses & coaches, down from 35,730 units in the same period last year. No bus & coach builder in China has been spared from the current economic tsunami so far. The top four players, namely Zhengzhou Yutong, Suzhou Higer, Xiamen Kinglong and Golden Dragon has seen their business shrink by more than one third.
However, against the gloomy landscape, new energy buses & coaches delivered an impressive performance and their sales volume was up by 66.14% y/y, reaching 1,796 units in the first quarter.
An insider with the industry recently revealed that as his company’s orders are still on a decline, he feels the worst scenario is yet to emerge. An expert who declined to be named also indicates that it is quite likely the current bus & coach market will continue worsening and the industry on the whole may further contract to the 2006 level. He expects the market to decline by 5% to 10% for the whole year.
Apart from the anemic demand in the domestic market, some emerging markets like Russia, Southeast Asia and Middle East also saw a sharp decline for bus & coach demand in the first quarter. To make matters even worse, on Apr. 1 China’s railways once again upped its train speed which once was notoriously inconvenient, many passengers has already decided or is intending to switch their usual travel mode.
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