BAIC Wants to Phase Out Internal Combustion Engines by 2025

Chinese car brand BAIC Motor Corporation wants to stop selling its own manufactured conventional combustion engine cars by 2025, the company announced in a recent conference. The decision comes after the Chinese government’s push to shift local automakers toward electric and hybrid cars.

BAIC, which also produces vehicles for Germany's Daimler AG and South Korea's Hyundai Motor Company, plans to kickstart its planned phase out in Beijing, then spread nationwide.

"Our goal is to stop sales of self-developed conventional fuel-powered cars in Beijing by 2020 and stop their production and sales nationwide by 2025," BAIC Chairman Xu Heyi said when he was ambushed by the press at a launch event for a new energy car innovation center in Beijing.

China has established strict quotas for electric and hybrid cars that enter the local automotive market beginning 2019, sending both domestic and international into a frenzy. The Asian economic powerhouse is the world's largest auto market.

Earlier this year, China's vice industry minister said that it is looking into banning the production and sale of cars using combustion engines, predicting "turbulent times" for the country's car manufacturers as they were forced to comply.

The Chinese government wants electric and hybrid cars, part of the new-energy vehicles (NEVs) movement, to take up at least one-fifth of Chinese automotive sales by 2025 to reduce air pollution and also reduce the competitive gap between its newer domestic automakers and their international rivals.

Last October, fellow Chinese car manufacturer Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. Ltd. announced that it will cease sales of combustion engine cars starting 2025, making it one of the first Chinese car brands to commit to a complete shift to NEVs.

Immediately following Chongqing Changan’s announcement, BAIC Chairman Xu said a similar move would be challenging for his firm. However, with BAIC's recent announcement, it appears that  Xu, along with his company, has changed their tune.