China will consolidate the overcrowded electric vehicle industry: minister

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Reuters) – China has “too many” electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and the government will push for consolidation, Industry and Information Technology Minister Xiao Yaqing said on Monday.

The minister also said China would improve its charging network and develop electric vehicle sales in rural markets.

The government’s promotion of greener vehicles to reduce pollution has led to electric car manufacturers such as Nio Inc (NIO.N), Xpeng Inc (9868.HK) and BYD Co Ltd (002594.SZ) expanding manufacturing capacity to China.

Xiao said the ministry was speeding up alternative solutions to address the lack of automatic chip supply.

The Chinese market regulator last week imposed three car chip sales companies for rising prices, in a move to help car production in the world’s largest vehicle market.

The prolonged global shortage of chips has affected major carmakers, including Ford Motor (FN), Honda Motor (7267.T) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), forcing many to slow down or reduce production. .

Reports from Shen Yan, Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Edited by Christopher Cushing and Stephen Coates

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