Stimulus drives up China’s auto sales

BEIJING: ZHAO Hang, who helped devise China���s auto-stimulus package, is facing demand from car buyers battling an unexpected consequence ��� two-month waiting lists. ���Eight friends have asked me to make calls or write notes to contacts to help speed purchases,��� Zhao, president of the government-linked China Automotive Technology & Research Center said. ���Given the world economic situation, demand for cars is surprisingly strong in China.���

Beijing drivers, used to leaving showrooms with new cars the same day, now have to wait about three weeks for a Hyundai Motor Yuedong Elantra or as long as eight weeks for a Honda Motor CR-V SUV. Carmakers failed to predict a 14% sales jump caused by an economic rebound, tax cuts and subsidies and are now trying to raise Chinese output even as they cut US and European production on plunging sales.

���We are having shortages. We expected sales to pick up at the beginning of this year, but it���s beyond our imagination that it would be this good,��� said Li Minghui, a salesman at dealership Beijing Hyundai Boshishan. ���