Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, February
10
SINGAPORE: Some automotive industry players said they ended 2007
on a high note but it has been a shaky start for 2008.
The government made it clear in its transport review that it
wants to reduce the number of cars on the roads.
With fewer COE (Certificate of Entitlement) quotas in May,
bidding prices are expected to climb.
And with more ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) gantries and higher
rates, owning a car is likely to be more expensive.
Cheah Kim Teck, CEO of Group Motor Operations of Jardine Cycle
and Carriage, said: "People are a lot more cautious in committing
to big—ticket purchases. We slightly anticipated this will happen.
There is a certain degree of ’wait—and—see’. Even the consumer at
large is trying to anticipate what it really means to (him/her) in
terms of dollars and cents."
"For a start there will be less weekend cars, the lower priced
cars because those consumers I believe are marginal buyers, meaning
they just cross the line to be able to own a car," he added.
Dealers said it has already been a slow start to 2008, and there
is another factor road users and even the government have little
control over — the cost of crude oil, which saw pump prices
speeding towards S$2 per litre.
KAH Motor’s product manager Vincent Ng pointed out: "If oil
prices continue to rise, especially now it’s hovering about US$100
per barrel... the rise in petrol (price) per litre will really
affect (drivers’) expenditure each month and that should have a lot
of effect on their disposable income."
According to Land Transport Authority figures, the number of
hybrid cars crossed the 1,000—mark in 2007, and more manufacturers
are cranking out hybrids and other alternate fuel powered cars.
Dr Rainer Thiel, President and CEO of DaimlerChrysler Southeast
Asia, said: "We have biofuels options to offer, customers (can)
have something besides using crude oil. A clear target for us is to
introduce our hydrogen version, our fuel cell car in the market.
We’ll have that as a serious car available in 2013, 2014, so that
we can offer a real clean alternative to customers." — CNA/ac
