The success rate of bidders attending yesterday's car plate auction in Shanghai fell to an all-time low of 5.4 percent.
The number of private buyers taking part in the sale rose 421 from last month to 136,098. They were competing for 7,400 plates, a total unchanged from June and preset by the government as part of its annual quota of 100,000.
In an effort to curb the number of participants, which has been rising since April, the government has in recent months introduced qualifying criteria.
Yesterday's event, for instance, was open only to those who are already in possession of a driving license. In June, people holding only temporary residence permits for Shanghai — a group that would normally account for 10 percent of attendees — were prohibited from taking part.
The average winning price at yesterday's sale was 74,680 yuan (US$12,000), up 784 yuan from last month. The lowest successful bid rose 800 yuan from June to 74,600 yuan, while first-round bids were once again dictated by the price ceiling of 72,600 yuan.
The relatively small increase in the number of bidders at yesterday's auction was likely due to uncertainty over the government's policy on future sales, said Eddie Zhang, a Shanghai-based car dealer.
He was referring to the news that second-hand plates will soon be brought under the umbrella of the monthly new plate sale.
The Shanghai Transport Commission said earlier that the two markets will be consolidated once the appropriate systems and procedures have been put in place.
Currently, second-hand plates are traded privately, for about 50,000 yuan more than new ones. As a result, some bidders at the new plate sales are there for solely investment purposes.
Despite a rule introduced this year that prohibits the sale of new plates within the first three years of ownership, bidders covert new plates so they can sell their old ones and pocket the profit.
