Jia said the purpose of parallel car imports was to break the monopoly of authorized dealers and therefore lower the price for import cars in the Chinese market to a "reasonable" level.

Minimal impact

Jia believes the parallel car import programs will have little impact on China's auto market.

He estimated the current annual number of parallel car imports to be between 30,000 and 50,000, a drop in the bucket compared to the total import figure of 1.5 million last year.

"Parallel car imports are normally special models. Plus, the source of the car is limited, so it won't account for a big number," Jia said.

Luxury auto brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Maserati, Land Rover and Porsche are the top choices for parallel car imports. Analysts said that if sales figures for parallel car imports grow, it will influence automakers and their authorized dealers.

"It will hugely impact automakers if the number of parallel car imports reach one-tenth of China's annual imports of cars," said Jia, who added that cheaper prices will force automakers to alter their pricing systems.

For customers, cheaper prices are very attractive.

"If the aftersales tax and other services are the same, of course we will choose the cheaper one," said Wan Yang, 32, whose parents live in Tianjin and are considering replacing their car.

Wan said they plan to wait until the Tianjin FTZ policy is clear.

"We will consider buying one if there is a model among the parallel-import cars that we like, and that offer the same services as authorized dealers."

The parallel import car program will be expanded to the FTZs of Fujian and Guangdong provinces in the near future.