Taiwan, China Sign Pacts On Car Component Testing, Outsourcing
TAIPEI -(Dow Jones)- Taiwan and China have signed letters of intent to
cooperate on the certification and outsourcing of car components such as
batteries for electric vehicles, Taiwan's Automotive Research & Testing Center
said Wednesday.
The agreements, signed by trade associations from the two sides, will give
Taiwanese firms more exposure to China's car market, the center said in a
statement at the end of a two-day cross-strait auto makers forum.
Less than 300,000 vehicles are sold each year in Taiwan, while the China
Association of Automobile Manufacturers has estimated sales may hit 13 million
units in China this year.
"Taiwan is strong in components like car electronics and batteries for
electric vehicles," Wu Zhixin, general manager of Tianjin Qingyuan Electric
Vehicle Co., which is under the government-supported China Automotive Technology
& Research Center, said on the sidelines of the forum.
However, issues concerning safety and price must be resolved before electric
vehicles are adopted on a mass scale, said Wu.
"There will be no mass market for electric cars within the next five years,"
said Paul Chung, vice president of the Taiwan government-supported Metal
Industries Research & Development Center, adding the price of electric car
batteries must fall by 70% from current levels to attract demand.
Taiwan's Yulon Motor Co. (2201.TW) plans to start selling battery-powered
vehicles in Taiwan next year, but will lease the battery instead of selling it
in order to attract sales, Yulon Motor President Chen Kuo-Rong has said.
-By Alex Pevzner, Dow Jones Newswires; 8862-2502-2557; alex.pevzner@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-25-090712ET
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