The average successful bidding price for a car number plate in Shanghai continued to rise this month, despite moves to change the auction system to make it fairer. 

 

But the proposed plan did favor some buyers as the lowest successful bidding saw a sharp decline for the first time since July this year.

 

At the weekend auction of car plates for private use in Shanghai, the average successful bidding price climbed by 1,725 yuan (234 US dollars) to hit a record high of 56,042 yuan.

 

However, the minimum payment was auctioned at 50,000 yuan, a drop of 3,800 yuan or seven percent from a month earlier, according to Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co, the organizer of the monthly event.

 

The local government put 7,500 car plates up for sale this month, the same amount as last month while the number of bidders also remained almost unchanged at 10,356.

 

In the middle of this month, Chen Qiwei, a spokesman for the city government, said Shanghai will adopt a new car plate auction system early next year that aims to prevent the bidding prices from being manipulated by car dealers.

 

Car sellers used to give advice on the bidding prices to auto buyers and some deliberately put up higher offers for car plates to seal a successful bid, a move to help them sell cars to buyers.

 

"The bidding prices have been different this time as we are told not to offer advice on the bidding price," said a seller surnamed Gong from Jinjiang Toyota Sales Co Ltd.

 

"But the lowest bidding could be an exception and the price will see a slow boom because of high demand in a long term."

 

Other dealers, however, disagreed. "This may be a signal that the price could slide because of the government's firm intention to stop prices soaring," another dealer from Shanghai General Motors Co Ltd said. 

 

(Shanghai Daily December 25, 2007)