{"id":6417,"date":"2019-01-17T01:31:06","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T01:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/why-are-the-chinese-buying-fewer-cars\/"},"modified":"2019-01-17T01:31:06","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T01:31:06","slug":"why-are-the-chinese-buying-fewer-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/why-are-the-chinese-buying-fewer-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are the Chinese buying fewer cars?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The fact that President Trump’s limousine is a Cadillac is said to have helped the US carmaker’s sales in China
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If you’re selling Cadillacs in China, it helps that the US president is driven around in one.<\/p>\n

Cao Chenyi, the boss of a Cadillac dealership near Shanghai, told me that customers know that Donald Trump’s presidential limousine is made by the US carmaker. He says they like the prestige.<\/p>\n

But Mr Cao’s had a bad year. Demand dropped 30% in 2018. He’s had to shut five of the 11 dealerships his family business owned. Almost half, gone.<\/p>\n

“The sales on every new vehicle is causing us to lose money. Basically the more we sell the more we lose,” he says. <\/p>\n

Loss leaders are painful. Mr Cao has been forced to shift excess stock, and quickly. The red Cadillac he drove me around in is currently on sale at half price.<\/p>\n

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\n Cao Chenyi’s family have had to close five of their dealerships – these customers did not make a purchase
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Nationally, 2018 was a very hard year for the car industry in China, the world’s biggest car market.<\/p>\n

Just over 22 million new cars were sold last year.<\/a> But that’s a near 6% drop on 2017. The first fall in two decades.<\/p>\n