Major Chinese carmaker plans electric-only future
Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., one of China’s big state-run automakers, said Thursday it will shift to making electric vehicles exclusively, ending sales of combustion-engine cars by 2025, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Changan, based in the southwest city of Chongqing, said it plans to invest more than US$15 billion in EV development, and unveiled three new plug-in vehicles at a launch event in Beijing, the details of which were posted on the company’s website.
Changan said it would launch 21 pure-electric cars and 12 plug-in hybrid models by 2025 as part of an electrification strategy dubbed “Shangri-La.”
While most Chinese automakers are ramping up EV production in deference to official policy, Changan’s announcement is the most aggressive so far.
In September the Chinese government told all automakers, both foreign and domestic, that they must start building electric cars by 2019. A senior official also said the country is planning to ban the sale of gasoline cars, without saying when.
Changan is China’s second most popular auto brand, selling more than 1.4 million vehicles last year, behind only Volkswagen AG’s core VW brand, according to research group LMC Automotive.
In addition to its own branded vehicles, Changan also manufactures foreign-badged cars through joint-venture partnerships with several foreign automakers, including Ford Motor Co. , Groupe PSA, Mazda Motor Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. Changan’s decision to no longer make combustion engine cars doesn’t apply to those partnerships.
In July Volvo Cars, which is owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Co., said it would only make electric or hybrid cars starting in 2019.
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