[AJU NEWS DB]
One of out of five cars produced in South Korea will be environment-friendly vehicles within five years, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The ministry on Tuesday outlined the plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a new growth momentum for local automakers as they push for the development of electric and hybrid vehicles to meet increased global demand for such vehicles.
The ministry said the government will invest 150 billion won ($127.72 million) over the next five years for research and development of key technologies. It will also offer subsidies for buyers of environmentally friendly cars and increase the number of charging stations for such vehicles to spur adoption.
Under the ministry’s five-year plan, the annual output of green cars such as hybrids, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), pure electric vehicles (EV) and hydrogen fuel cell cars will be 920,000 units in 2020, compared with about 80,000 units of such cars produced this year.
The country’s top automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia are already trying to break into the market by developing their own environment-friendly cars.
Hyundai Motor plans to launch a hybrid version of its new Ioniq model in South Korea in January.
The company plans to increase its range of environment-friendly cars from seven to 22 by 2020, together with improving fuel efficiency by an average 25 percent.
By Alex Lee
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