Gasgoo.com (Shanghai November 21) - China's new energy vehicle sales may increase by 27 times in 2015, Securities Daily reported today, citing a statement made by Gaogong Industrial Research Institute Deputy Director Zheng Liyao. Mr. Zheng made the comments at the 2012 China International Electric Auto and Charging Station Construction Investment Forum held in Beijing. The event saw scholars from the GGI Research Institute debate with BYD representatives over the future of new energy vehicles in China.
"As a leading energy consumer, China depends on foreign providers for 57 percent of its oil," Wang Aihui, head of development for BYD's green public transportation department, noted. She commented that that figure means the country is close to breaking the 60 percent reliance threshold, and as such the need for new energy vehicles is becoming ever more pressing.
The Chinese government has taken notice of the situation, with plans to invest over 100 billion yuan ($15.93b) to develop the new energy vehicle industry over the next five years.
According to Mr. Zheng, the government expects Chinese sales of electric vehicles to reach 500,000 units in 2015 and five million units in 2020. However, sales of EVs from 2009 to 2011 were very poor, with only a total of 13,000 units sold over the three year period. Furthermore, the country's major domestic passenger automobile manufacturers have managed to sell just 6,982 new energy vehicles over the first nine months of this year.
In his estimations, Mr. Zheng predicts that new energy vehicle sales will total 250,000 units in 2015 and three million units in 2020. When compared with current annual sales volumes of around 9,000 units, the figure represents an increase of twenty seven fold.
Both representatives from the GGI Research Institute and BYD agreed that new energy vehicles faced several major obstacles in China, including poor market conditions, subpar marketing strategies and incomplete infrastructure in several cities. Mr. Zheng believes that investing in building new infrastructure for the vehicles is as important as promoting their development.
