China Orders Production Halt of 553 Different Cars as it Looks to Curb Pollution

The Chinese government has ordered the production halt of 553 different car models as it looks to reduce vehicle emissions and pollution.

According to Bloomberg, the production stoppages will come into effect on January 1st, 2018. They span a number of different models from several automakers including General Motors, VW Group and Daimler. The secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association said the vehicles included in the ban represent a tiny portion of high-emission cars in the country. More vehicles are expected to be banned going forward as well.

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China would like to follow some European countries in issuing a stop-sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles by a certain time. The country is still studying when to ban fossil fuel powered vehicles, but France and the UK have indicated they’d like to stop the sale of such passenger cars by 2040. China is also looking to curb pollution by reducing coal-burning and other industrial emissions – the leading cause of pollution there.

[Source: Bloomberg]