State-owned BAIC’s sales of petrol cars to stop within eight years, China says
Beijing — One of China’s largest state-owned vehicle makers has said it will phase out sales of all petrol vehicles by 2025, as Beijing considers taking all fuel-burning cars off the country’s roads. Beijing Automotive Group Co (BAIC) chairperson Xu Heyi said at the weekend that the company would phase out sales of conventional cars in Beijing by 2020 and nationwide by 2025, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The decision only applies to cars the company makes itself and will not affect vehicles it makes in partnership with South Korea’s Hyundai and Germany’s Daimler. The news comes as Beijing debates a nationwide ban, though a date for entirely eliminating petrol vehicles has yet to be announced. For now China is wielding both carrots and sticks to compel car makers to produce more fuel-efficient and eventually petrol-free cars as it looks to clean up its smog-choked cities. Authorities will implement a complex quota system in 2019 requiring makers to produce a minimum n...
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