61.9%,VIA sits above the warning line again in March

The Vehicle Inventory Alert Index (VIA) has been above the warning line since the very start of the year due to the sales tax cut on small cars and otherfactors. The Vehicle Inventory Index in January stood at 61.5% , 18.6% up from that in December,2016, and increased 5.1% to 66.6% in February. As the latest data published by the China Automobile Dealers Association (CAAD), the VIA in March reached 61.9%.Though lower than last month, it still satabove the warning line.

In March the inventory index ,the demand index as well as the average daily sales index went up on month-on-month basis while the index of the practitioner and business situation declined.Even the overall index went down from February, some specific indexes increased in March.

Several auto shows held in March ,thus the demand witnessed an increase.However,the automaker has set such a high sales target that the dealers picked up too many cars just to gain higher profit margin.The dealers have to initiate the “price war” as to empty the overdue inventory and relieve the inventory pressure.Ironically,according to an investigation,some customers instead decided to wait and see whether the price could be lower. And the Thaad issue set back the sales of the South Korean cars in China, which put more stress on the inventory.

Follows are the main indexes and changes in March:

The average daily sales index is 49.2% ,up 26.1% from last month;the inventory index jumps 5.8% to 70.4%; the practitioner index slumps 12.9% to 38%, the low sales aggravates the staff loss.

The CAAD predicts that the demands and sales shall rise in April as the spring auto shows will open in many places. But the with too many vehicles in deposit,the dealers are still confronted great difficulties, the dealers should be cautious of over-packing their warehouses.