Despite seeing a growing automobile market during the past few years, Pingtan, in Southeast China's Fujian province, still has no authorized 4S auto shops.

In China, authorized car dealerships are called 4S shops. The 4S represents sales, spare parts, service and surveys.

At present, there are eight secondary auto shops in Pingtan. Their business only covers sales.

Pingtan is still far away from establishing its first 4S car shop, according to local dealers.

"The nearest 4S shop to Pingtan is more than 100 kilometers away in Fuqing or Fuzhou," said Li Junming, vice-general-manager of a local car store. "Given the speed of Pingtan's development, it will take three to five years before the first 4S car shop opens here."

Car dealers made the prediction based on population, economic strength, consumption capacity and car ownership in Pingtan.

Although a 4S car shop can provide a full set of service initiatives, it appears that many buyers in Pingtan prefer the lower prices of secondary car stores.

Most customers hammer out a purchase deal directly when they come to a car store in Pingtan. They often test drive cars at a 4S shop or somewhere else, according to Wang Yirong, a salesman with a local car store.

"Our business is good because we have a price advantage," said Zheng Dongqing, a car saleswoman.

The relatively small consumption capacity of Pingtan residents is another factor for the 4S shop drought.

Currently, a secondary car store sees a monthly sale of 40 cars, far from enough to reach the 4S shop minimum, according to Wang.

"What's more, a secondary car store can sell cars of all brands, but a 4S shop can only run a single brand," he said.

"The first 4S car shop in Fuqing opened in 2009. Now there are more than ten 4S shops, but none of them meet the sales volume standard,"said Li Junming. "A 4S car shop can only function well with a monthly sale of at least 100 cars."

One of the criteria of opening a 4S car shop in a place is the population must be no less than 1 million, said Li. As of the end of 2010, Pingtan had only 400,000 residents.

Although Pingtan is developing rapidly, it still lacks full infrastructure facilities to attract more immigrant populations and foreign investment, said Lai Wei, a car salesman in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province.

Following the opening of Haixia Bridge, a bridge across the Pingtan Strait linking Fuqing and Pingtan, the need for cars is soaring in Pingtan. But de facto car ownership in Pingtan is still low as the majority of Pingtan-registered cars are being used outside the island, according to a survey by Li's company.

Li, however, did not rule out the possibility of a 4S car shop in Pingtan in three to five years.

"Some automobile manufacturers may set up a small-scale version of a 4S shop in order to occupy the market and promote their brands. If the number of cars continues to rise to a certain amount, a 4S car shop can also be expected," he said.