中國借力二手車市場促進經濟增長

As China revs up its shift to a consumption-led growth model, policymakers are trying to get more mileage out of a sputtering part of the economy: the used car market.

隨着中國加速向消費拉動型增長模式轉型，政策制定者正努力讓一個正噼啪作響的經濟引擎再多轉幾轉，那就是二手車市場。

In most developed economies, sales of second-hand cars outnumber those of new vehicles by about two to one but the opposite is true in China, the world’s largest market for new vehicles.

在多數發達經濟體，二手車銷量是新車銷量的兩倍左右，但中國恰恰相反。中國是全球最大的新車市場。

“The majority of the vehicles in China are still owned by the first owner; secondary-owned vehicles are the minority,” says Bill Russo, a Shanghai-based consultant. “That is unlike any other country.”

“中國大多數汽車仍是一手車；二手車佔少數，”駐上海的諮詢顧問羅威(Bill Russo)表示，“這與其他國家不同。”

To help stimulate the nascent market, Beijing recently introduced a policy that allows old cars from big cities to be resold in smaller ones, a move that is only now taking full effect. Previously, to protect local businesses, government regulations prevented cars being sold across provincial borders.

爲了幫助刺激這個新生市場，中國政府最近出臺一項政策，允許大城市的舊車在較小城市銷售，此舉現在纔開始全面實施。以前，爲了保護地方企業，政府的規定阻礙了跨省銷售汽車。

This will “open the pipeline”, according to Mr Russo. “Cars [in China] may be born in upper-tier regions but they tend to retire in lower-tier regions,” he says.

羅威表示，這將“打開管道”。他表示：“（在中國）汽車可能會在較發達地區‘出生’，但往往會在不那麼發達的地區‘退休’。”

Though huge, China’s car market is in its infancy. Until 1984 it remained technically illegal for individuals to own a car and low personal wealth meant sales did not take off until the mid-2000s.

中國汽車市場儘管規模龐大，但仍處於新生階段。1984年以前，嚴格說來，個人擁有汽車是非法的，個人財富低下使得汽車銷量直到2005年左右纔開始騰飛。

The country’s transition into a “new normal” of annual economic growth below 7 per cent following years of double-digit rises is potentially painful for carmakers accustomed to breakneck demand for new models. For used-car sales, however, newly thrifty consumers and a growing number of ageing vehicles are a promising combination.

在經歷多年兩位數增長後，中國經濟正朝着年增速低於7%的“新常態”轉型，對於習慣了新車型需求旺盛的汽車製造商而言這可能是痛苦的。然而，對於二手車銷售而言，新出現的節儉型消費者和數量越來越多的老舊汽車是一個頗有希望的組合。

The government sees the used-car market as a way to boost consumption among those with lower incomes.

中國政府將二手車市場視爲擴大較低收入人羣消費的一種方式。

Rising supply, combined with government support and moves by manufacturers to encourage car owners to upgrade sooner, promises to see the second-hand market grow at more than double the speed of that for new cars, according to Alex Klose, founder of , a used car website. The entrepreneur, Volvo’s former chief executive for China, set up his company in 2014 with the aim of becoming a trusted platform for a nascent market. “One thing holding people back from buying a used car is not knowing whether they can trust it,” he says.

二手車網站駕值網()創始人柯力世(Alex Klose)表示，供應量日益增長、政府支持、加上汽車製造商採取措施鼓勵車主更快升級，令二手車市場的增長速度有望超過新車的兩倍。這位沃爾沃(Volvo)前中國區首席執行官於2014年創建了自己的公司，目標是成爲這個新生市場的一個可信平臺。他表示：“阻止人們購買二手車的一個原因是，他們不知道二手車可不可靠。”

Mr Klose is not alone in seeing the potential for second-hand cars. A flock of online platforms and technology start-ups have recently entered the sector. “Everyone thinks that the space for growth in second-hand cars is very big — they think the sector is a very big cake,” says Li He, founder of , a used-car financing platform.

柯力世並非唯一看到二手車市場潛力的人。近來，有很多在線平臺和創業型科技企業進入了該行業。二手車融資平臺釐米庫()創始人李賀表示：“所有人都認爲，二手車增長空間非常大，他們認爲這個行業是一塊非常大的蛋糕。”

Mr Li, a tech industry veteran, believes online platforms are helping to improve the supply chain — a job he says big distributors are failing to do. “The vast majority [of major distributors] have a second-hand car department but in reality they don’t have standards for the whole supply chain, including pricing and evaluation.”

李賀是一位科技業資深人士，他認爲，在線平臺有利於改善供應鏈，他表示這是大型經銷商未能做到的事情。“絕大多數（大型經銷商）設有二手車部門，但實際上，他們沒有爲整個供應鏈提供標準，包括定價和評估。”

Big carmakers are encouraging their dealerships to stop dragging their feet, however, as they seek a new source of profit for dealers. Over-dependence on a single stream of revenue has sparked tensions between manufacturers and dealers in the past, when distributors asked for compensation for their losses during slow sales periods.

然而，大型汽車製造商正鼓勵經銷商不再裹足不前，他們正爲經銷商尋找新的利潤來源。過去，過於依賴單一收入來源引發了製造商與經銷商之間的緊張關係，當時，經銷商要求彌補他們在銷量放緩時期的損失。

As dealerships look to evolve their business models, there is one set of people who are watching with trepidation: the original used-car salesmen.

隨着經銷商考慮改變業務模式，一些人變得不安起來，那就是最初的二手車銷售人員。

Dong Wei has been selling used cars from his shoebox office at Beijing’s oldest and largest “old car market” since the 1990s. “Before, they [big dealerships] didn’t bother with second-hand cars, because the profits for new cars were so high,” he says. “Now they are starting to change their model.”

自上世紀90年代以來，董偉（音譯）一直在他位於北京歷史最久且最大的“舊車市場”的一間小辦公室裏銷售二手車。“以前，他們（大型經銷商）對二手車不感興趣，因爲新車利潤很高，”他表示，“現在他們開始改變模式。”

Mr Dong is nervous that disruption in the sector means the glory days for small-time salesmen are over. “Before, the market would be full of people. These days, people prefer to go online.”

董偉擔心，現在行業中的顛覆性趨勢意味着，小規模銷售人員的輝煌時代已經結束。“以前，市場里人山人海。如今，人們更願意在網上購買。”