Mini cars have a unique place in the automobile market throughout the whole country. QQ was once a hot model in the micro car market. Last year and the year before, sales of the QQ accounted for 50 percent of Chery Auto Company's total sales. The outstanding performance of the QQ has won the company great acclaim.

According to data provided by the online car dealer, www.cheshi.com.cn, QQ and Xia Li, are the top two models in the mini-vehicle market. Both are priced around 50 thousand yuan. The manager of its Market Research Department, Ren Dongwang, says though still very popular, the sale of the cars is actually stagnant and even going down this year.

"The main trend in mini-vehicle sales is going down greatly, for example, Xia Li and QQ have seen a decline. Xia Li sold only less than 200 thousand cars and QQ only 150 thousand last year."

Some experts analyse that micro car sales will probably decrease by 20 percent by the end of this year, or even more than that. The main reason causing the shrinking in sales is that the manufactories have given up designing and producing new models.

Ren Dongwang further explains:

"Micro cars are not the focus for manufacturers to snatch profits in the whole sales market. They only want to be ranked top on the sales record to promote their credibility."

Due to this reason, the models of micro cars are very limited. Currently there are only no more than 10 varieties in the domestic market. Among these models, Xia Li is as old as 10 years while QQ has a 3 to 4 years' market history. Customers have obviously lost their interest in the old style cars. Some new mini car brands such as Ben Ben and Le Chi are making no difference in stimulating customer's appetite since they all look like the other existing models. One manager from Beijing's largest auto market at the Asia Games Village, Guo Yong emphasises:

"Some new car models offered by joint-venture auto companies' are priced similar to the Xia Li, but are less competitive in their maintenance services and convenience."

Due to these factors, Miss Shi, is a big fan of mini cars, decided to purchase a Volkswagen New Beetle.

"If our Chinese car can look as fancy as the New Beetles, then I would probably choose the car made in China, because it is much cheaper."

Experts say micro cars will still be a popular option inauto market in the future, but local products may be wiped out of the market if manufacturers do not work out an effective countermeasure.