Gasgoo.com (Shanghai May 14) - According to various reports circulating across the media, four government departments, including the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, are planning to release a new set of subsidies for new energy vehicles soon this year. The new subsidies will supposedly be divided into 16 classes. Following the news, stock prices of automobile manufacturers, such as BYD, GAC, SAIC and Yutong, and of battery enterprises, including Luxiang Holdings and Kingray New Materials Science and Technology, all soared.
However, in a recent interview with CNTV, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers Secretary General Dong Yang claimed that the reports were unfounded. "I really don't know where this 16 standard [subsidy] new originally came from," Mr. Dong said, adding that when he first saw the reports, he believed they were unreliable. "In my opinion, chances are that a reporter was voicing his hopes," Mr. Dong said.
Previous government subsidy policies for new energy vehicles were calculated on the basis of 3,000 yuan ($483.95) for every kilowatt hour the vehicle can produce, with the maximum amount totaling 60,000 yuan ($9,679). Those policies expired at the end of 2012. Mr. Dong believes that the government will release new policies to support new energy vehicles. "Energy-efficient and new energy vehicles require a series of policies," Mr. Dong explained, adding that new policies should be released to support already active policies.
