Guangzhou gives cash, plates for green cars

In a bid to fight pollution, the city of Guangzhou is now handing out 10,000 yuan in cash to car owners purchasing vehicles powered by new, alternative energies.

More than 1,200 license plates for green cars have been approved for people to apply on Monday, Dec 10, 2012, but despite this new initiative, enthusiasm is still on the sluggish side.

On Dec 10, 2012, in the populated southern city of Guangzhou, the government kicked off its routine issuance of number plates for December. It usually does so to reduce the number of vehicles on its roads. What's different this time, is that out of all 17,880 new plates waiting to be picked up, over 12 hundred are earmarked for green cars.

And what's even better is that you are getting 10,000 cash if you buy a green vehicle.

However, this is still not enough to lure buyers.

Yu Weitao, sales consultant, said, "On average we sell two to three cars per month, but altogether we have only sold 10 green cars so far. Not that many."

Some of the main challenges customers are facing are price and supporting facilities.

Mr He, resident of Guangzhou, said, "New energy cars are pretty expensive, and refilling petrol and recharging electricity are big problems now. And also the repair is more costly compared to normal cars."

In Shenzhen, a commercial city further down south from Guangzhou, a new green car is currently sold at 170,000 yuan. However, buyers in this city are entitled to 80,000 yuan worth of subsidy, putting the car price at only 90,000 yuan. Therefore, sales in Shenzhen are so far leading the race.