Tokyo, Oct. 22 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government will cut its subsidies for the purchase of eco-friendly vehicles, including electric and fuel-cell vehicles, to 60-80 pct of their current levels next year, the industry ministry said Wednesday. The reduced subsidies will apply to cars registered from Jan. 1. The ministry is expected to temporarily stop accepting subsidy applications as early as December, instead of next February as previously projected, because of strong sales of such vehicles. The cut in the subsidies is designed to keep the program in place within the current budget. The maximum amount of subsidies for EVs will be reduced to 750,000 yen from the current 1.25 million yen. The upper limit will be lowered from 550,000 yen to 440,000 yen for electric minivehicles, from 800,000 yen to 480,000 yen for plug-in hybrid vehicles, and from 1.45 million yen to 870,000 yen for fuel-cell vehicles. The maximum amount of additional subsidies, determined by evaluating automakers’ efforts to reduce environmental impacts, including using steel sheets that reduce carbon emissions during manufacturing, will also be cut to 30,000 yen from 50,000 yen. For electric minivehicles, the ceiling will be reduced to 18,000 yen from 30,000 yen. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
