The arrival of a new university term inevitably inspires thoughts of buying a new car in the minds of both students and their parents.

According to a survey by sina.com, back in 2008, some 46.4 percent of university students choose to buy a car during their time at college, with 8.8 percent of students buying a car in their second year, 12.9 percent in their third year, and 24.7 percent in their fourth year.

The majority of students buy a car for ease of transportation during an internship, particularly in their final year at university.

Aside from value for money pricing and fuel economy, attractive design, individual character, and the reassurance of a well-known brand are all listed as vital factors in their purchasing decision.

According to one car dealer, many male university students dream of owing a SUV, highly desired for it powerful performance. Female students, on the other hand, frequently opt for cute and colorful models of car. A customizable vehicle is also considered quite popular among students keen on pursuing a DIY fashion concept.

Overall, as 75.8 percent of students are subsidized by their family when buying a car, price remains the pre-eminent criteria when choosing a vehicle.

He Song, a senior student in the Auto Engineering Department of Hefei Industrial University, said: "As I can't afford to support myself at the moment, I bought a Nissan TIIDA, priced at just 110,000 yuan, as a way of saving money for my family."

The survey also showed that 14.1 percent of university students choose to buy a car priced between 50,000 and 80,000 yuan, with 25.2 percent spending between 80,000 and 120,000 yuan. Only some 16.5 percent chose vehicles costing between 120, 000 yuan and 150, 000 yuan.

Driven the market trends, many car companies are now more actively targeting would-be motorists who are still at college.

Honda, for instance, has been devoted to developing energy saving technology for many years. Its Honda China Econopower event is an annual project aimed at stimulating individual creativity in energy saving and fuel efficient car design.

This project began in 1981 and was introduced into China in 2007. This year it attracted 120 teams from a number of different universities, Honda representative companies, the Chinese media and the general public.

All of the cars participating were equipped with Honda's 125cc 4-stroke engine. The competition teams were then briefed to rebuild the car's chassis and bodywork to achieve the lowest possible fuel consumption.

A team of students from Beijing Institute of Technology won the third annual event, setting a new record of 1279, 565 km traveled per liter of gasoline.

Commenting on the win, one of the victorious team said: "We put the knowledge learnt in classes into actual practice. With the backing of students from other disciplines, we also learnt a great deal along the way."

Different car companies use different market strategies to stimulate the consumption among university students.

Encouraged by the concept of being the "Choice of Young People", the Chinese independent car company, Geely, is now very popular among students, due to its satisfying price and sporty finish.

As a Sino-German joint venture, FAW-VW developed the "211 Project" in association with a number of well-known universities in China. This has been devised to further exploit the university market by providing on-campus driving-safety lectures, driving-skill training and car-testing activities.

It's not just Chinese students who have considerable interest in buying their own cars, the pattern has been repeated in a number of overseas markets.

Many international students, for instance, tend to buy a car as soon as they arrive in New Zealand. Whilst in some countries it's standard practice to buy only brand new, however in some markets, such as New Zealand or the UK, it's quite acceptable to buy a second-hand car.

In China, many university students like to buy a new car to demonstrate their spending power, which is not necessarily for practical use.

One commentator from the auto industry said most university students couldn't afford to buy a car out of their own pockets. Bearing in mind the potential financial burden for the whole family, students have to be aware of the fuel and maintenance costs of running a car.

(China Daily 10/12/2009 page6)