China tightens grip on its electric vehicle market

Guangzhou

AFTER paying out billions of dollars in subsidies to promote greener cars - and creating a gold-rush among unknown start-ups - China is tightening its grip on the world's biggest electric vehicle (EV) market to weed out weaker domestic firms.

But some leading local EV makers are, for now, ignoring calls to apply for costly manufacturing licences, preferring to invest in design and technology innovation.