For China carmakers, tax cut may mean driving blind beyond '16

Guangzhou

CHINA'S move to cut tax on small-engine cars may revive sales growth in 2016 only to leave the world's biggest auto market running on empty in years to come, analysts warn, raising the spectre of industry restructuring at the end of the road.

As one of China's biggest auto shows got under way in Guangzhou on Friday, sector watchers said sales may rise from 1-8 per cent next year after Beijing cut taxes to coax buyers who had turned fretful over China's slowing economic growth. The wide range of forecasts highlights the uncertainty now clouding China's auto market and the tax cut's impact.