According to the country's top planning agency, China is discussing policies to help automakers boost sales and fend off the global financial crisis. The government is analyzing policy options including consumption-tax breaks and subsidies to automakers that develop vehicles powered by alternative energies, a high official from the industrial coordination department of the National Development and Reform Commission said recently.

Chinese automakers are facing their toughest challenge in three years as demand is falling and profitability is plunging amid rising costs. Chinese automakers have been forced to slash prices, even as steel costs have risen, to compete among the 52 brands on sale, the most in any country. SAIC Motor Corp, China's biggest automaker, had a 78 percent drop in third-quarter profit. Chongqing Chang'an Automobile Co, the Chinese partner of Ford Motor Co, had a third-quarter loss of 107 million Yuan ($15.67 million), compared with a 68.4 million Yuan profit a year earlier.

The government is also urging automakers to take advantage of a reshuffle in the global automobile industry and speed up development of vehicles using alternative energies. China's government will help automakers with technology and financial support to make progress in the area of electric autos.