State Council: Parties and governments should give favor to NEVs as official vehicles

The State Council of China recently issued a notice that stipulates all-level Parties and governments should give favor to NEVs when choosing official vehicles. In order to promote the popularity of NEVs, China had made a variety of promoting plans for official vehicles of state-owned enterprises, schools and hospitals. In addition, buses, taxies, postal logistics vehicles and police cars are also recommended to use NEVs. By 2020, the NEVs should take up over 50% of Parties and governments' official vehicles.

Encouraged by a variety of policies, NEVs developed rapidly in 2017. This year is likely to see a reshuffle in NEV area. The industry would select the superior and eliminate the inferior in this segment. The subsidy policies for NEVs have released in 2018. The threshold for pure electric vehicles has uplifted, which means pure electric vehicles with longer range and more efficient battery will be eligible for larger amount of subsidies.

From the strategies released by key automakers, JVs will launch more NEV models, posing a great challenge to self-owned vehicle brands. It can be easily forecasted that the competition in NEV field will grow increasingly intensified.