“China makes no compromise”

German economy minister Sigmar Gabriel’s attempts to negotiate a postponement for German carmakers to implement China’s new mandatory e-car quota have been in vain, Christoph Giesen and Max Hägler write in Süddeutsche Zeitung. Beijing is determined to put the regulation into effect in summer 2017 despite numerous objections from the industry, they write. Not only will foreign carmakers be obliged to fulfil the quota, their compulsory Chinese joint-venture partners must also electrify a prescribed share of their car production, according to the authors. “In reality this means that construction plans have to be handed over – down to the last screw,” Giesen and Hägler say.

Read the article in German here.

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