The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Chinese car buyers keep on motoring:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304244904579278203989604922

Passenger car sales in China look set to expand 15% this year—twice the pace of 2012.

…To combat pollution, several big cities are restricting car purchases by driving up license-plate prices. The immediate effect is that some consumers are buying before the plate restrictions come into force. In the long term, these diktats probably are limited to a few places with pollution concerns, where the market is saturated anyway.

…Middle-class disposable incomes are busting through levels where owning a car makes sense. New highways roll out by the day. And having conquered richer coastal provinces, businesses are moving inland. Residents in lower-tier cities will purchase nearly 60% of China's new cars until 2020, says McKinsey.