The Chinese government and car manufacturers would like to see a little bit more loyalty to domestic brands of automobiles, especially among government bureaucrats who seem to prefer European sedans more than local models.
Yesterday, at a meeting of almost 3,000 delegates at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addressed the crowd. On onlooker would be impressed with the number of Audi Sedans waiting for their important riders to exit from the National People’s Congress.
“We should try to use Chinese cars when possible and actively advocate our officials to use them,” Guo Gengmao, governor of central Henan province, said yesterday when asked whether he will exchange his Audi for a local car. “But we should do so in a practical way and switch cars when we need to replace the old ones. Otherwise, it’s a big waste to replace cars when they’re still good to use.”
The default policy among bureaucrats in the US, Japan and South Korea is to drive home made cars. The leadership in China is like a sore thumb, thumbing their fellow citizens by avoiding domestic cars like the plague. Chinese big-wigs seem to love German Volkswagen AGs and Audi. Obviously this practice does not help Chinese carmakers. As a result Chinese manufacturers of automobiles have fallen to a four-year low in terms of market share.
“If the top leaders started to switch to Chinese brand cars, junior officials and bosses of state-owned companies would follow overnight and that would be a great push for state-owned automakers,” said Chi Yifeng, head of the Beijing Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange, a vehicle dealer in the capital. “People have been waiting for detailed policies of promoting domestic brands for the government fleet.”