In addition to the variety of policies promoting environmentally-friendly vehicles, the Rules on the Production Admission Administration of New Energy Automobiles which were implemented over a year ago, have made hybrid- and electric-powered vehicles gradually more popular.

 

Nevertheless a report from Honda in May showed that during the period from January to April, Honda only sold one hybrid-powered vehicle in China, while last year 32,575 hybrid-powered vehicles of the same type were sold in the US. The contrast is so striking that one cannot help but doubt whether the goal to "promote 60,000 energy-saving and new energy vehicles all over China by 2012", which was proposed by Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang, is achievable.

 

In the auto market, hybrid-powered vehicles are merely decorative

 

As a type of hybrid-powered vehicle which sold quite well in foreign countries and was the first type of hybrid vehicle produced in China, the hybrid-powered Toyota Prius entered the Chinese market in January 2006. In the two years since it entered the market, only 2,500-odd vehicles were sold, with a mere 558 vehicles sold in 2008. Over the past 10 years, over one million hybrid-powered Toyota vehicles have been sold all over the world however. The general manager of the FAW Toyoda 4S stores told the reporter: "The number of Prius vehicles sold in China is far less than that in the developed countries in Europe and the US. At present, the monthly sales volume in China is only about 50. Most customers only think of the Prius when they are buying their second or third vehicle."

 

In contrast, the hybrid-powered vehicles manufactured by Honda met an even more embarrassing situation than Prius vehicles. In the first four months of 2008, only 63 Honda hybrid-powered vehicles were sold, and in the first four months this year, only one vehicle of this type was sold.

 

High price restricts the sales volume of new energy-powered vehicles

 

Why is there such a large gap between the domestic and overseas sales volumes for the same type of vehicle? A salesperson told the reporter, "The key factor influencing the market prospect of hybrid-powered vehicles is the price. Taking the Prius with a 1.5 liter engine as an example, it is sold between the prices of 259,000 yuan and 302,800 yuan in China. The gas-driven vehicle equipped with the same configuration however, is only priced at just over 100,000 yuan in other countries. The huge price difference between such similar products is unacceptable to ordinary people." The survey conducted by an authorized agency shows that people only accept the hybrid-powered vehicle that is retailed at a maximum price difference of 25,800 yuan higher than the fuel-driven vehicle in the same class.

 

"The technology is really excellent, only the price is high," a supervisor in a sales shop of Dongfeng Honda said that, "This is due to hybrid-powered vehicles in the Chinese market at present mainly being imported as end product vehicles. A hybrid-powered CIVIC, sold at the price of 269,800 yuan in China, has a price equivalent to only 160,000 yuan in Japan, which is even cheaper than the fuel-driven vehicle in the same class."

 

Experts analyzed the three main reasons that contribute to the high price of hybrid-powered vehicles. Firstly, China has not yet formulated specific and operable supporting policies for hybrid-powered vehicles. Secondly, core technologies have not been industrialized. Thirdly, people's awareness of environmental protection has not been raised to a high enough level. However, its fundamental reasons are that the hybrid-powered vehicles remain in the emerging phase, and the consumption market is still immature and unstable.

 

New energy vehicles to be widely popularized domestically in 2012

 

As for the future position of new energy vehicles in the Chinese market, quite a few experts believe that such types of vehicles will constitute an effective supplement to gasoline and diesel vehicles but that they will not replace existing types of vehicles in the short run.

 

Wan, Minister of Science and Technology, disclosed recently however that China plans to promote the adoption of 60,000 energy-saving and new energy automobiles nationwide in 2012, among which various types of hybrid automobiles will account for over 95 percent in all. At present, production permits have already been issued to nearly 10 new energy automobiles, and a batch of new energy automobiles including purely electric automobiles with "zero emission" will be put on the market. According to sources, hybrid automobiles have globally entered a large-scale industrialization stage, and the time for mass production will be moved up to as early as 2015.