China to release green-car subsidy details this month

Shanghai, May 24 (Gasgoo.com) The Chinese government has worked out a plan to subsidize the country's buyers of green cars and will release details later this month, Shanghai Securities News said today.

China will offer a clean-energy car buyer with subsidies of up to 60,000 yuan ($8,789), as part of its sustained efforts to cut vehicle emissions in the world's biggest auto market. Subsidies will be mainly based on the car's energy-savings efficiency, Reuters reported, citing the Chinese business paper.

Buyers of all-electric vehicles will be eligible to get as much as 60,000 yuan each, while those of plug-in hybrid and normal hybrid cars can get 50,000 yuan and 3,000 yuan, respectively. This green car subsidy program will likely be carried out first in five selected cities.

Last year China selected 13 cities to subsidize clean-energy vehicle for public transportation and has expanded this pilot scheme to 20 cities. Last week, BYD auto delivered its first 40 all-electric e6 cars to a taxi fleet in Shenzhen, where the carmaker is based.

The Chinese government has been urging its automakers to get cleaner, low-emission vehicles on the roads, banking on the green drive to cut emissions and lead the global auto industry.

China's auto trade-in policy, initiated from June 1, 2009, will expire at the end of this month, after this 'cash for clunkers' program failed to achieve some expected sales results.