More than one-fifth of Chinese to buy a car within next year: MNI

After a stumble in the month before, 20.7 per cent of respondents surveyed in July said they were planning to buy a car in the next 12 months, up from 16.2 per cent in June and 18.6 per cent in May.

A significant share reported that they were either upgrading their existing car or buying another, with those earning more than the median annual earnings of RMB96,000 (US$15,460) more likely to do so.

Having moved downward since March, car ownership levels also showed a sign of reversing the slide reported in the second quarter, according to the report. 

The planned car budget of Chinese families tended toward the middle ranges in July, and continued to move further away from the cheapest price options. The largest percentage of respondents reported their car budget to be between RMB100,000 to RMB140,000 (US$16,110 to US$22,555).

The MNI China Auto Purchase Sentiment Report is derived mainly from data collected in the Westpac MNI China Consumer Sentiment Survey. The researchers also ask additional questions directly relating to the auto sector in China to supplement the dataset. Data is collected via at least 1,000 telephone interviews each month in 30 first-, second- and third- tier Chinese cities.