By Wang Weiwei

Having experienced resuscitation in 2006, the light bus industry has embraced a harvest year in 2007. Statistics of China Association of Automobile Manufactures showed that up to the end of November 2007, the total sales volume of light buses has achieved 228.3 thousand sets with the year-on-year growth of 26.48 percent.

The sales volume of the top six automobile manufactures takes up 72.79 percent of the total, showing an increasingly clear concentration in the light bus industry. Economic Jinbei-brand light buses priced within RMB 50 thousand yuan and RMB 80 thousand yuan remained the locomotive position in domestic sales while a rising star Polarsun, as a "black horse" in the light bus industry in 2007, made a breakthrough of the RMB-50-thousand-yuan bottom line in a difficult price-battle, and such a performance brought a respectable proportion in the field of economic light bus market across China with the sales volume of 16.3 thousand in the first 11 months. In the high-end light bus market, Nanjing Iveco, whose market share had overpassed 50 percent, kept a 25-percent growth rate in the whole year with the sales volume of 23.1 thousand in the first 11 months, becoming the second largest light bus sales company following Brilliance Jinbei Automotive Co, Ltd.

The expansion in Euro light bus manufacture and the scalization in economic light bus export represent the highlights in the light bus market in 2007.

"In fact, the sales-volume growth of Nanjing Iveco last year is an epitome of the full expansion in Euro light bus manufacture." said Lin Wei, General Secretary of China Light Bus Analysis Union. The increasingly strong demand in upgrade and the main trend of energy conservation and emission reduction are the two major impetuses in the expansion in Euro light bus manufacture. "Over the 10-year economic development, with the lifts of customers' purchasing power and idea, customers' new purchasing targets have been boiled down to such items as advanced technologies, multiple usages in one car and total operation cost saving. And many owners of middle-and-small sized company have located their purchasing aims on the high-quality Euro light buses", said Lin Wei. Meanwhile, due to the full implementation of National III Emission Standard in 2008 and the impact of such hidden factors as fuel tax and emission tax, the diesel light buses meeting the National III Emission Standard with a stronger power, a fewer oil consumption and a respective cheap oil price have gotten more and more popular in customers. In the first three quarters in 2007, the proportion of diesel light bus has raised from 41.45 percent in the same period of 2006 to 43.57 percent.

Southeast Delica Motor Co., Ltd has signed a 8000-sales-volume order with an Iranian business, Brilliance Jinbei Automotive Co, Ltd has signed an export agreement with 80 thousand Jinbei -Haishi-brand light buses, such overseas markets as Southeast Asia, East Europe, Africa, etc have become new breakthrough points for China's light bus export and export orders are under a transition from small batch to scalization.

At the beginning of a new year, the light bus industry embraced another upgrade of environmental protection standard. Starting from January 1, 2008, any vehicle over 3.5 tons failing to meet the National III Emission Standard will have no chance to get a license plate across the country. It will bring another round of riffle within the industry, and players are answering such a challenge according to their own characters.

Nanjing Iveco Automobile Co., Ltd, introducing SOFIM diesel engines in line with the National III Emission Standard to China's market in 2003, is sweeping all kinds of obstacles in customers' purchasing light buses in line with the National III Emission Standard from the angles of product, price to after service for popularizing such products in line with the National III Emission Standard nationwide.

At present, the product line meeting the National III Emission Standard from Nanjing Iveco has covered such vehicle types as short-wheel base, long-wheel base & short suspension and long-wheel base. Moreover, a stable market proportion has also been achieved in the cities where the National III Emission Standard has been implemented.

Taking Beijing as an example, the sales volume of Iveco's light buses in line with the National III Emission Standard has kept the growth rate of over 30 percent for consecutive 3 years, reaching nearly 2000 in 2007. In order to achieve a more competitive advantage, since December 3, 2007, the distributors of Iveco in many areas have began a promotion activity in a full range for Iveco's light buses in line with the National III Emission Standard, and the lowest promotion price has been RMB 208 thousand yuan. Among the above-mentioned light buses, the lowest promotion price of short-wheel base products has reduced under RMB 110 thousand yuan. Additionally, Iveco has prolonged the mileage warranty of the core SOFIM engine component for promotion vehicles to 100 thousand kilometers, such as the component called common rail system.

Economic light bus manufacturers take gasoline light buses in line with the National III Emission Standard as their featured products. For the moment, the gasoline light buses priced between RMB 60 thousand yuan and RMB 80 thousand yuan remain a major force for the products of Jinbei in line with the National III Emission Standard while Shenyang Polarsun's light buses in line with the National III Emission Standard are also placed in distribution stores with the price around RMB 60 thousand yuan.