30 Aug 17
News

Foreign automakers protest against China's strict EV quotas

Some of the world's leading automakers have asked China to relax its strict proposals for EV and hybrid vehicle quotas.

Reuters has seen a joint letter sent by the manufacturers, arguing against the Beijing government's plan to have at least 20% of automotive sales consist of so-called 'new-energy vehicles' (NEVs, i.e. EVs and PHEVs) by 2025, via a staggered system of quotas that would start in 2018.

“The proposed rules' ambitious enforcement date is not possible to meet, and if unchanged would lead to a widespread disruption of the product portfolio of most automakers operating in China. At a minimum, the mandate needs to be delayed a year and include additional flexibilities”, said the letter, which was signed by the European, Japanese and Korean Automobile Manufacturers' Associations and addressed to China's Minister of Industry and IT.

The undersigned also say they find the penalties for noncompliance unnecessarily excessive, and instead offer some suggestions to modify the NEV policy. 

For example, they want more credit given to PHEVs, and automakers to be able to carry earned credits forward to the next model year. 

Banning manufacturers who do not meet the quotas would not only be unprecedented, but also disruptive to the Chinese and world auto industries, they say. 

The manufacturers also call for equal treatment between Chinese and foreign EV and battery manufacturers when it comes to subsidies, which currently do not apply to imports. 

 

Image: The Erica Chang, CC BY 3.0

Authored by: Frank Jacobs