Oil prices soared pass 100 US dollars a barrel last week. Though only temporary, it undoubtedly signaled the dawn of an era where high oil prices will be a commonality in our daily lives.
In China the fluctuation of oil prices are far less turbulent than that on the international market due to the government's prudent control over oil prices. As a result, many believe that the auto industry is suffering little from the oil price hike.
However, an article carried on Xunhua.net reminds people to look at the long term effect on China's fast growing auto industry with high oil prices. It calls both the policy makers and auto manufacturers to shift their focus to producing energy saving models instead of ambitiously expanding production scale.
The article cited figures from China's Communication and Transportation Association, which show that by the year 2020, China's privately owned cars will have surpassed 100 million. At the same time, energy consumption in the transportation sector will double the current level. Another alarming figure shows that currently, the average fuel consumption level of China-made vehicles are 20 percent higher than that of the developed countries.
All these have made it imperative for the government and auto makers to transform the auto industry into one that focuses on energy saving. Unless change is made, the article says, high oil prices will be a huge burden on China's emerging auto society, and the in the long run will threaten the nation's energy security and also the economy as a whole.