China’s Shenzhen Restricts Car Sales

Following Beijing and Shanghai, Shenzhen became the third Chinese city to restrict sales of new cars in an escalating war against smog and snarling traffic.

More Chinese cities are expected to follow suit, adding woe to China's already slowing auto market, and increasing pressure on carmakers such as General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG to accelerate expansion in China's less affluent, but less crowded western cities.

The government of Shenzhen said through its official micro blog that it would cap the number of new cars to be sold in the city at 100,000 a year.

Shenzhen is the latest Chinese city to place restrictions on new car sales, following a similar move earlier this year by Hangzhou, a city in eastern China, near Shanghai. Other cities that have placed restrictions include Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Guiyang.

Consultancy McKinsey has forecast that by 2020, more than 20 Chinese cities would exceed a burdensome car-density threshold of 250 vehicles per kilometer of roads, promoting officials to implement similar car sales restrictions.