“China’s quota challenges VW”

Germany’s largest car manufacturer VW struggles to comply with China’s planned quota for e-cars, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reports. “The e-quota certainly is going to be a challenge,” a VW manager for China told journalists on Thursday in Beijing. The Chinese government last year announced carmakers will have to sell a certain share of their cars with electric engines as soon as 2018, thereby gaining “credit points” that they can sell to their competitors. According to FAZ, VW is now seeking to strike a deal with Chinese authorities that would allow the carmaker to gather “negative” credit points if it fails to meet the quota straight away. By exceeding the quota in later years, VW hopes to avoid being fined this way, FAZ writes.

For background, read the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.