China May Lower “New-Energy” Car Production Goals

China, pondering feedback from carmakers, says it may either reduce or delay programs intended to bolster the country’s output of electric and plug-in hybrid cars, Bloomberg News reports.

The scheme would require that carmakers earn a “new-energy vehicle” score of 8% beginning in 2018. The index would be derived from weighted measures of each company’s production of various low- and zero-emission cars.

Manufacturers say the goal is too ambitious. The China Assn. of Automobile Manufacturers agrees. CAAM calculates the government’s formula would have produced an average score of only 3% among carmakers in 2016.

Miao Wei, China’s minister of industry and information technology, tells Bloomberg his ministry aims to decide by May or June whether to either lower the 8% target or delay it.

Last year sales of plug-in hybrid, battery and fuel cell vehicles in China grew 53% to 507,000 units, according to CAAM. The group predicts deliveries will reach 800,000 units in 2017. China has said it intends to push annual sales to 3 million units by 2025.

But deliveries have dropped this year after government incentives shrank 20%, Bloomberg notes. Another 20% reduction in discounts is set to take effect in 2018.