Hangzhou may well be ready to follow in the steps of Beijing, Shanghai, and oddly Guiyang with the introduction of car buying limits on its local populace. Like many second tier cities circling Shanghai, Hangzhou has had a wealth boom over the past three decades which has turned the scenic roads around the West Lake into a public parking lot, Hangzhou’s air, already murky thanks to the summer heat carries a tint of pollution that is hard to shake off.

Local Hangzhou and national press are carrying reports regarding Hangzhou locals hesitating wether or not to buy a car but instantly buying their four wheels as soon as they heard the rumors, either its a fantastic rumor started by anxious dealers who are swimming under overstock, or the government really are planning to limit car buying.

In recent years Hangzhou has been plagued by car owners, visitors to pre-2008 Hangzhou will be shocked by the number of cars on the road in 2012, as a result Hangzhou license plates have risen in cost from a few thousand to 10,000RMB a time.Hangzhou currently has 850,000 cars on its roads for a population of 8.7 million. Frantic reports followed up the original rumor, apparently the government has no current plans to limit car buying in the city limits but Hangzhou will continue to limit certain license plates at peak times during the week to keep traffic pressure down.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world’s biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the ‘Website’ link.

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