Seminar on macroeconomic trend and automobile market in 2019 was convened in Beijing between 22 and 23 Dec. It discussed the macroeconomic situation and automobile market of status quo and made the forecasting on the trends of the next year. SIC’ President Cheng Xiaobo attended the seminar and Vice President Xu Changming made the keynote speech.

Cheng Xiaobo said the macroeconomic adjustment imposed a direct impact on the automobile market, while this industry also serves as an important engine for economic growth and consumption upgrading. The Chinese economy was under downward pressure against the context of external challenges and domestic difficulties. However, the fundamental of the economy remained robust with remarkable incremental and the synchronized growth of employment and residential income. The quality of Chinese economy is kept improving from the perspectives of economic structure, investment returns and new driving forces. The accumulated advantages in manufacturing, human resources and S&T will keep the country in a stage of strategic opportunity for a long time. 

Cheng said the downward trends both in the automobile industry and production & sales lie in that on the one hand, adjustment of the macroeconomic situation and cancelation of preferential policies, on the other hand, the rule of automobile industry itself. However, new opportunities in technology upgrading and market potential emerge though the slower growth rate in the automobile market in the short term. The automobile makers shall make the strategic planning and the layout in advance by adhering to the supply side reform with higher quality and better services to the consumer needs. 

Cheng also pointed out that SIC has a professional team in the automobile consulting sector which is familiar with the national policy and industry frontier. We will provide better consulting services as usual by taking the advantages in the platform and human resources. 

Xu Changming made an in-depth analysis and forecasting on the automobile market. He said the negative growth of the automobile market in 2018 was the first time in the past two decades considering the factors like structural adjustment of the economy affecting the purchasing capability and willingness of consumers in passenger vehicle to some extent, and the rise of housing prices in the third-tier cities leading to the spillover effects on the automobile consumption. Against the background, the traditional carmakers shall embrace the new changes with swift actions while the new emerging makers hold the patience by following rules of the market. Brands of all kinds shall take differentiated strategies like the joint-ventures can learn from the advantages of domestic carmakers. 

Researchers from the PBoC, Ministry of Ecological Environment, Chinese Academy of Macroeconomy and other research institutes delivered the speeches in macroeconomy, world economy, private economy, etc. Representatives from carmakers and consulting enterprises shared the experiences and ideas.