EU to limit Chinese hybrid vehicle imports to 350,000 a year

Any Chinese plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (known as PHEVs) imported above the new quota level will remain blocked in customs at docks in Europe. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

The EU is to limit the number of hybrid electric vehicles imported from China to 350,000 cars a year, the European Commission has confirmed.

Imports have been soaring in the past two years; about 800,000 battery and plug-in hybrids are likely to be sold this year.