China May Ease Carmaker Control Over Dealers

China is studying a plan that would enable car dealers to offer multiple brands under the same roof and free them of operational controls now held by carmakers.

Sources tell Bloomberg News that representatives of the Ministry of Commerce have met with dealers and carmakers to discuss the changes.

Currently carmakers can dictate which cars dealer are allowed to sell, when they may sell them and where under China's 2005 Enforcement Measures on Administration of Automobile Brands Sales, Bloomberg notes. Its sources say China may introduce restrictions on the ability of carmakers to force dealers to increase their new-car inventories or dictate sales quotas for them.

China also is considering measures that would open secondary import channels for foreign brands that would enable distributors to get cars from sources other than the manufacturer.