Chinese car manufacturers FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor, and Changan Automobile will have more leeway and independence in conducting their work, as the country’s state assets regulator said on Wednesday, in an effort to boost the development of electric vehicles. The new energy vehicle (NEV) businesses of the central government-controlled automakers will shortly become independent accounting units, Zhang Yuzhuo, director of China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), told reporters on the sidelines of the “Two Sessions” meetings in Beijing. This means they can ramp up research and development spending without the constraint of keeping their balance sheets healthy, as Zhang added that SASAC will check more on their technological development and market share rather than profit-making in the current period. Last year, Dongfeng and Changan reported sales of roughly 524,000 and 474,000 NEVs, respectively, which include all-electrics and plug-in hybrids, far lagging behind BYD, which sold a record 3 million units to customers. [Caixin, in Chinese]
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