Restrictions slash car sales
Only about 11 percent of those who won rights to car licenses plates through the new lottery system bought cars in Beijing in January, the first month after restrictions were implemented, according to Chi Yifeng, general manager of Beijing Yayuncun Automobile Transaction Market, the biggest car retail market in China.
The manager said only 2,000 vehicles were purchased citywide after 17,600 plates were approved through the lottery.
Another local report cited a salesman at a Chery dealership in Beijing saying that just 10 customers with plate numbers visited the shop in January.
Chi told reporters that he before thought the car restriction regulation would cause about one-third of Beijing's sales and service shops to go out of business - but now he forecasts that half will close.
