Car plate prices in Shanghai declined for the first time in 10 months at the auction today after the city government increased the quota and introduced cool-down measures.
Snapping a rising streak of nine consecutive months, the average successful bid for a Shanghai car plate fell to 84,100 yuan (US$13,564), down 7,798 yuan from March, according to the Shanghai International Commodity Auction Co.

Dabbed as "the most expensive metal plate on the earth" , the prices of Shanghai car plates surged 32.5 percent in the first three months this year- more than for the whole of last year-and exceeded the 90,000 benchmark in March.
This month, the lowest price fell 6,900 yuan to 83,900 yuan. The government increased the supply of car plates by 2,000 to 11,000 this month given the potential increase in demand around the auto show starting this weekend and the upcoming May Day holiday travel period.
The number of bidders increased to this year's high of 26,174 as motorists speculated that the government's latest moves would rein in soaring plate prices.
In order to tame the prices, the city government set a price ceiling for the first time at this month's auction and bids of more than 83,600 yuan would be rejected by the online auction system in the first round of bidding.