Automakers, dealerships expand used-car operations in China
Now that China is the world's largest car market, automakers and dealerships are starting to expand their used-car sales operations, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Sales of used vehicles in China are expected to rise 7 percent to 4.1 million units this year, Mercedes-Benz estimates.
Companies such as Nissan Motor Co., Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG are encouraging dealers to accept trade-ins, sell used vehicles and offer services to used-car buyers, the Journal reports.
Klaus Maier, chief of Mercedes-Benz in China, told the Journal that 35 of 180 Mercedes dealerships will be able to buy and sell used cars by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, all Nissan stores in China now accept trade-ins, and 90 Nissan dealerships currently have used-car divisions, says Hideki Kimata, a senior Nissan sales executive based in Guangzhou.
At the end of last year, Nissan had 464 dealerships in China.
Zhongsheng Group Holdings Ltd., a major dealership group, has begun setting up used-car units in its stores. Company Chairman Huang Yi told the Journal that used cars now generate only 2 percent of his company's revenues.
By contrast, Huang noted that used-car sales account for one-third of a U.S. dealership's sales. "That's where we are headed eventually in China as well," he told the Journal.
