- Shanghai is extending subsidies to car owners who replace high-polluting vehicles.
- The subsidies were intended to end on April 30, 2010, but have been extended to the end of the year.
- Under the revised plan, consumers can file rebate applications until January 31, 2011.
SHANGHAI, China — The city of Shanghai is extending subsidies to vehicle owners who replace their high-polluting vehicles as the city continues to promote better fuel-efficiency, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce has announced.
The city's subsidies, intended to encourage consumers to buy more environmentally friendly vehicles and those that use less fuel, were to run from June 1, 2009, through April 30, 2010. These subsidies now will be extended until the end of the year.
Environmentally minded Shanghai motorists will receive a rebate from about $439 to a maximum of $1,100 for trading in outdated and high-polluting vehicles. Those vehicles to be abandoned include minivans, light commercial vehicles and heavy-duty trucks that failed to meet the nation's first-generation emission standard.
The commission said the policy has raised environmental awareness among consumers. By April 30, more than 14,000 applications had been received in Shanghai. With the government handout totaling about $13.2 million, the plan is said to have led to vehicle sales valued at $336.7 million. Nationwide, some 23,000 vehicle purchases have been subsidized in the first two months of this year.
Under the revised plan, consumers can file rebate applications until January 31, 2011, the commission added.
Meanwhile, the central government has earmarked $732 million for subsidies for this year to encourage vehicle updates as part of a nationwide campaign to spur vehicle demand and maintain healthy economic growth.
Many industry insiders have also called on the government to extend the policy to stabilize market demand.
Inside Line says: China's cash for clunkers goes on. — Vivian Jin, Correspondent
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rayzor says:
01:54 PM, 05/25/2010
All Chinese made cars are clunkers; all need to be replace! They are probably made out of fake aluminum, fake steel (probably contains 90% lead; seems like their metal of choice), fake leather fake glass, fake rubber, fake filter, fake coolant, and fake plastic. I'll bet that even the gasoline they sell is fake, that is buy the pollution there is so freaken bad!