Summarize：According to the statistics from Polk-Cartarc, the number of minibuses registered in the third-tier market, the fastest growing one, saw 10.6% growth in 2008 year on year. Along with the constant increases of farmers’ income, county-level cities or counties have emerged as the new growth engines for minibus markets.
Five Players Dominate the Minibus Market While SAIC-GM-Wuling Takes the Lead
The statistics from Polk-Cartarc shows that in 2008, the minibus market was stranded in the dire situation together with the passenger car market. The five players, namely SAIC-GM-Wuling, Changan Automobile, Hafei Automobile, and Changhe Motors almost took the whole market shares.
In 2008, SAIC-GM-Wuling continued playing bellwether role in China’s minibus market, holding over 50% market share. Its major model Wuling Sunshine saw the number of registration reaching 390,000 in 2008, accounting for 40% of the total.
“Vehicle Going to Countryside”, a policy which will take effect soon, is expected to inject some new vitality into the lukewarm minibus market. However, the presence of some other players, like Cherry and Haima will also intensify the market competition in the years to come. Given above, where is the most profitable minibus market in China?
Shandong, Hebei And Henan Saw The Biggest Number of Minibus Registration
According to the analysis of TANG Jing, Shandong, Hebei and Henan boast huge minibus markets in the countryside thanks to the fact that minibuses are chiefly catering to the needs of people in the rural area.
In 2008, the minibus market in the coastal area witnessed declines of varied degree due to the financial tsunami, but still seven provincial-level markets managed to maintain a growth rate of over 20%. Among them, Tianjin’s minibus market grew robustly, up 52.6%.
Minibuses Enjoyed Wide Market in the Second-Tier Cities and Vigorous Growth in the Third-Tier Cities.
In 2008, with the number of registration reaching nearly 40,000 and a growth rate of almost 10%, Beijing took the top place in China in terms of the sales volume of minibuses. Tianjin climbed from the eighth place in 2007 to the second thanks to its robust growth. Among the top ten cities with the highest number of registration of minibuses are such second-tier cities like Weifang, Linyi and Baoding. With an annual growth rate of 7.1%, Weifang in Shandong held the third place.
In 2008, the third-tier minibus market saw a growth rate reaching 10.6% year on year, becoming the fastest growing market. Many third-tier cities enjoyed impressively robust growth, such as Laiwu in Shandong, Anqing in Anhui and Guangyuan in Sichuan. Hardly affected by the economic downturn, these cities all kept a growth rate of over 30%, showing that they have huge room for further development.
Counties Become the Major Force in the Minibus Market
Thanks to farmers’ rising income, county-level cities and counties have emerged as a new force in the minibus market. Take Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan for example. In 2008, the number of minibuses registered in the city grew by 16.7% against the year before.
However, the number was only up by 8.1% in the downtown of the city while those counties under the administration of Chengdu saw the number up by over 20%. In many cities in East and Central China, like Weifang in Shandong and Jiujiang in Jiangxi, it has also become quite common that the growth rate of minibuses’sales volume in counties surpassing that of downtowns.
