- China's commerce ministry will meet with industry bodies and automakers to discuss the sales of used cars that have never been driven, Reuters reported.
- As a result of years of price wars in the auto industry, a phenomenon known as "zero-mileage used cars" has emerged in the Chinese market.
China's commerce ministry will meet with industry bodies as well as automakers including BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) and Dongfeng Motor (HKG: 0489) to discuss the growing issue of sales of used cars that have never been driven, Reuters said in a report today, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, the person said, according to the report.
Other organizations invited to the meeting include the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) and a number of used car trading platforms, according to the person.
Great Wall Motor chairman Wei Jianjun said in an interview with Sina Finance last week that a phenomenon known as "zero-mileage used cars" has emerged in the Chinese market as a result of years of price wars in the auto industry, the Reuters report noted.
The phenomenon refers to vehicles that have been registered and had license plates but never driven being sold on the second-hand market, he said.
Wei said there are at least 3,000 to 4,000 sellers on China's used car platforms selling such vehicles.
Local Chinese media outlet Cailian later mentioned something similar in a brief report, saying that some car companies, downstream companies and industry bodies were notified by regulators to participate in a seminar.
The main topic of the seminar was to promote the high-quality development of used car distribution, and to discuss content related to "zero-kilometer" used cars and the further promotion of used car distribution and consumption, according to Cailian.
Over the past year, discussions about zero-mileage used cars have often been seen on Chinese social media platforms.
Such moves are seen as a means for automakers to covertly cut prices in order to reach aggressive car sales targets.
