Image courtesy of http://www.vw.com.cnState mouthpiece People’s Daily recently announced a marked decline in government officials’ wanderlust following the installation of GPS devices in their vehicles.
On average, officials in Guangzhou (Guangdong Province) drove about 27 percent less once they knew they were being tracked, resulting in potential savings of $805 per vehicle per month, the newspaper said.
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As part of a wider frugality drive, the central government has been cracking down on spending tied to government vehicles. Officials have been known to use state-owned cars as de facto personal vehicles, often purchasing luxury foreign models for their workplace so they can ride in style.
Earlier this year, overseers hit back by excluding foreign brands from the list of models approved for purchase by government departments. Brands such as Audi, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Buick were struck from the list.
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Volkswagen and other foreign automakers were later blasted by China Central Television (CCTV) for allegedly using materials that could release carcinogenic gas.
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Volkswagen announced it would recall 384,181 vehicles sold in China after CCTV accused the company of selling cars with faulty transmission technology.
Sources: People’s Daily Online (人民网), Xinhua Net (新华网), Sohu (搜狐), Yahoo
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A version of this post appeared in the China Compliance Digest. For a limited time, subscribers to China Compliance Digest will receive the China Anti-Corruption Handbook (normally $750) and an ethiXbase membership (normally $695) at no extra charge. Details are here.
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