(Ecns.cn) -- Even though it is now known as the world's largest auto market, the exact total of China's automobile sales nevertheless remains a mystery, since automakers cannot be relied upon to release accurate data and the number of issued license plates is kept secret by the government.
In the May issue of China Automotive Production Information, auto sales of the Hawtai Motor Group were listed as "zero" because analysts from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) doubted the automaker's data. After further investigation, in June the CAAM discovered that Hawtai had passed off unpaid orders as part of its sales volume – a move that may have been meant to inflate the company's sales figures.
However, the CAAM and Hawtai have both remained silent. Whatever comes of it, the episode has sparked discussion over the authenticity of sales statistics released by automakers and the CAAM.
License plates a matter of privacy?
China overtook the US as the world's largest auto market in November 2009, setting a new world record by selling over 1.8 million vehicles in 2010. There was no doubting China's ranking first in the production and sales of automobiles. Yet there is still the question of whether or not the data from the CAAM was entirely accurate.
A common way to calculate the volume of auto sales is by the number of issued license plates. Countries such as New Zealand, the UK and the US all use this method, and regularly publish the latest statistics.
In China, however, there is no government department for gathering such data. Since 2002, the CAAM has undertaken the task, but all of its data comes from reports submitted directly by automakers.
The Ministry of Public Security publicized the National Citizen ID Information System (NCIIS) in 2008, where all Chinese citizens' basic information is stored. For only 5 yuan ($0.77), anyone can access this database and acquire someone else's legal information. In stark contrast, data on auto sales remains off-limits to the public.
The government remains cautious about it. At the NPC and CPPCC sessions in 2008 and 2009, participants proposed to publicize data of car license plates as soon as possible, but the suggestion was not pulled through. The reason given by the Ministry of Public Security was that the current system was immature, and involved issues of privacy.
Contradictory data
To stay competitive in the industry, carmakers often gather and analyze the production statistics and sales figures of their competitors. Because of this trend, in 2007 the National Passenger Car Information Exchange Association united the carmakers and gathered their statistics in one place, the first undertaking of its kind after the CAAM.
In March 2009, a company in Wuxi of east China's Jiangsu Province managed to get access to the license plate database of the Ministry of Public Security. It then classified the data and sold it to carmakers at a price of 400,000 yuan ($61,840) for a single car model within one year.
It was reported that the large carmakers all tried to buy the data, sometimes at even higher costs. From 2010, the data became much more difficult to obtain, although there are still ways to get it.
From May 4, 2010, the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) also began to release statistics about auto production and sales on a monthly basis.
The CATARC was established with the approval of the China National Science and Technology Commission. It receives information from automakers whenever a new car leaves the factory, and is currently considered the most accurate data for statistical study.
However, when the public compared auto production and sales statistics in the first half of 2010 released by CATARC and by CAAM, they found a difference of 455,100 vehicles and 1,830,800 yuan in sales between the two reports, a massively disparate result.
Along with the scandal over Hawtai faking its sales volume, Beijing Hyundai also found itself in data trouble. According to data released by the CAAM, Beijing Hyundai sold 6,317 units of its 2011 Sonata. But according to Shanghai Securities News, the sales volume was less than 3,000.
Clearly, there is much to do in order to achieve transparency in auto industry data.
