The regulation allows local companies to learn from their more experienced foreign counterparts. But the Chinese government is now considering relaxing those rules for plug-in electric cars.
While the government wishes local firms to be competitive in the electric car segment, it also wants to get more electric cars on its roads faster, which it has concluded to mean putting fewer restrictions on the foreign automakers already producing them elsewhere.
Volkswagen is in full attack mode in the largest new-energy market in the world. With the eight new NEVs, the carmaker will cover a large part of the booming market with the JAC-based cars at the bottom and the Audis at the top.
What is still missing in the plans is an electric MPV, a fast growing market segment in China, but that seems to be coming too.
Happily, the Volkswagen brand is not very tainted by the diesel scandal because Volkswagen never sold much diesel in China, so for Chinese customers, the sudden move into electrics feels sensible instead of forced, like in the rest of the world.
However, the competition won’t let Volkswagen have the NEV market all for itself. Mercedes-Benz has announced it will make EVs in China, and General Motors will soon launch the Buick Velite, a sporty PHEV based on the Chevrolet Volt.