China likely to extend EV tax break, group predicts
China is likely to extend a purchase-tax exemption on electric cars to promote the vehicles, whose sales have outpaced other segments, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicts.
The exemption on the 10 percent purchase tax is supposed to expire at year end, but it is “highly likely” to be renewed, said Xu Yanhua, the association’s deputy secretary general.
Xu made his comments Tuesday during a briefing in Beijing.
An extended tax break likely would benefit automakers such as BYD Co. and BAIC Motor Corp., which produce some vehicles that qualify for the exemption.
In the first six months, sales of plug-in hybrids and battery-electric cars rose 36 percent to 164,000 vehicles. For the period, industry sales of light vehicles grew only 1.6 percent, according to CAAM.
Separate data from the China Passenger Car Association on Tuesday showed that retail sales of passenger vehicles in the first half of the year fell for the first time since 2005.
China has subsidized the sale of EVs to ease its reliance on imported oil and reduce air pollution.
China is the world’s biggest electric-car market, accounting for more than 40 percent of global EV sales, according to the International Energy Agency.
The exemption on the 10 percent purchase tax is supposed to expire at year end, but it is “highly likely” to be renewed, said Xu Yanhua, the association’s deputy secretary general.
Xu made his comments Tuesday during a briefing in Beijing.
An extended tax break likely would benefit automakers such as BYD Co. and BAIC Motor Corp., which produce some vehicles that qualify for the exemption.
In the first six months, sales of plug-in hybrids and battery-electric cars rose 36 percent to 164,000 vehicles. For the period, industry sales of light vehicles grew only 1.6 percent, according to CAAM.
Separate data from the China Passenger Car Association on Tuesday showed that retail sales of passenger vehicles in the first half of the year fell for the first time since 2005.
China has subsidized the sale of EVs to ease its reliance on imported oil and reduce air pollution.
China is the world’s biggest electric-car market, accounting for more than 40 percent of global EV sales, according to the International Energy Agency.
