China eyes electric car future
Automakers step up efforts in country
- Apr 28, 2017 Updated Apr 28, 2017
SHANGHAI (AP) —
Volvo Cars, the Chinese-owned Swedish automaker, said April 19 it plans to make electric cars in China for sale worldwide starting in 2019 amid pressure by Beijing for global auto brands to help develop its fledgling industry in alternatives to gasoline.
The announcement at the Shanghai auto show is
among a flurry of automakers’ plans for electric models in China, their industry’s biggest market. The ruling Communist Party has the world’s most aggressive electric vehicle goals, both to clean up smog-shrouded cities and seeking the lead in an emerging industry.
On April 18, General Motors Co. said it will produce a gasoline-electric hybrid version of its Chevrolet Volt in China.
Ford, Volkswagen AG, Nissan Motor Co. and other brands also intend to sell electric models in China, adding to competition in a market that has been dominated by lower-cost Chinese producers.
Volvo said its first pure-electric model will be based on the economy-size CMA platform it shares with Chinese automaker Geely, which bought the Swedish brand from Ford in 2010. It said the name, size and other details were yet to be decided.
“It will be for global export. So it is built from the start to work all over the world,” said Henrik Green, Volvo’s senior vice president for research and development.
Volvo has three factories in China. In 2015 it became the first automaker to export Chinese-made cars to the United States.
Incentives To Buy
Chinese buyers have shown little enthusiasm for electric cars due to concern about cost, reliability and limited range. But Chinese authorities are using a mix of incentives and penalties to push for electric models. Automakers are scrambling to develop models with consumer appeal.
“It’s clear that China wants to take a leading role globally in terms of the regulatory environment and electrification,” said David Schoch, Ford’s president for the Asia-Pacific.
Models on display at Auto Shanghai 2017, the global industry’s biggest marketing event of the year, reflect the conflict between Beijing’s ambitions for environmentally friendly cars and Chinese consumers’ love of hulking, fuel-hungry SUVs.
Nearly every automaker is displaying at least one electric concept vehicle, if not a market-ready model. They range from family-friendly SUVs to futuristic-looking, premium-priced electric muscle cars from Chinese startups such as NextEV and Qiantu.
South Korea’s Kia Motors Co. debuted an SUV-inspired crossover, the K2 Cross, designed for the Chinese market.
GM said its Velite 5 hybrid will be sold by Buick, which has modest sales elsewhere but is GM’s main brand in China. GM’s joint venture with a state-owned automaker, Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp., will make it. Prices will start at $38,600.
The Velite 5 will be able to travel 72 miles on one charge, with an added gasoline engine extending that to 480 miles, GM said. It said the Velite 5 will be the Chinese market’s most energy-efficient hybrid to date and the first able to travel 60 miles on the equivalent of less than 1 liter of gasoline.
“Buick is committed to expanding its portfolio of new energy vehicles,” said a GM statement. “It will introduce additional new energy vehicles in China in the next two years, including hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles.”
On April 18,
Volkwagen AG announced plans to launch a pure-electric car in China next year with a state-owned partner. It is to be the first in a full range of pure-electric vehicles for China.
Ford announced plans earlier to manufacture a hybrid sedan, the Mondeo Energi, with a state-owned Chinese partner, Chang’an Automobile Co. It is due to go on sale next year.
One brand still displaying only classic gasoline models was Italy’s Maserati, whose CEO, Reid Bigland, would not say if it might produce an electric or hybrid. China is the biggest market for Maserati’s top-of-the-line Quattroporte sedan and the brand’s total Chinese sales rose 90 percent last year to 12,250.
Regulatory Push
Regulators jolted the industry by proposing a
requirement that electrics account for at least 8 percent of each brand’s production by next year, rising to 10 percent in 2019 and 12 percent in 2020. Automakers say they may be unable to meet those targets and regulators have suggested they might be reduced or postponed.
