Amid heightened environmental concerns and slowing car sales, China has introduced the latest in a series of incrementally stricter fuel economy regulations. But smaller domestic car manufacturers are likely to struggle to keep up. From Reuters:
The rules, jointly issued by five government bodies including the National Development and Reform Commission, would cut passenger cars’ average fuel consumption to 6.9 litres per 100 kilometers by 2015 and down further to 5.0 litres by 2020.
“That’s going to be tough for everyone, especially those small players as they will have to use more fuel-efficient engines and invest in hybrid technologies,” said Yale Zhang, director of Greater China vehicle forecasts at consultancy CSM Worldwide.