It appears that our earlier reports that China would be removing the 2018 requirements from its new energy vehicles (NEVs) quotas for auto manufacturers (in response to lobbying efforts) had some truth to them.
China has now released the new NEV targets, and they do indeed lack the earlier 8% quota for 2018, but leave the quotas for 2019 and 2020 in place.
Even with the 2018 requirements gone, though, the new auto manufacturer quotas are still pretty impressive — those operating in the country will be required to amass NEV credits equivalent to roughly 10% of annual sales in 2019, and equivalent to 12% in 2020.
In other words, foreign firms that want to sell in the world’s largest auto market will be heavily compelled to sell a lot of plug-in electric vehicles or hybrids, or at the least to purchase credits from those that do.
Reuters provides more: “A single vehicle can generate multiple credits meaning the proportion by NEVs by volume would likely be lower. … The quotas are a key part of a drive by China, the world’s largest auto market, to develop its own NEV market, with a long-term aim to ban the production and sale of cars that use traditional fuels announced earlier this month.
“… Under the rules, car makers will receive credits for new-energy vehicles including plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars that can be transferred or traded. Firms with annual sales volumes above 30,000 units will need to comply with the targets. These credits — which will vary depending on the range and performance of the vehicle — will be used to calculate if firms have met their quota, a system which would likely mean the actual proportion NEVs made up of total sales was lower.”
The new rules should, in effect, lead to the production of around or over a million electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids a year in China by 2020.
It’ll be very interesting to see which foreign auto manufacturers manage to remain relevant in the Chinese auto market as these quotas come into effect.