Nissan, Land Rover and Volkswagen will receive 866 million euros ($1.2 billion) worth of loans to develop cleaner cars, the European Investment Bank said Wednesday.
The money is part of a 7 billion euro lending package to the ailing European automotive industry that the bank expects to lend in the first half of this year. It has already announced 3.6 billion euros in loans and more is to come.
The EIB, which is the European Union’s lending arm, said that Nissan’s European operations would receive 400 million euros to develop and build more fuel-efficient vehicles in Britain and Spain.
Under EIB rules, any loan requires that carmakers must invest in new technology to lower emissions during vehicle production and driving and the EIB loans will also require some form of government guarantee before any money is paid.
Land Rover will get 366 million euros to cut vehicle emissions.
“A loan was also approved for a Volkswagen plant in India, which will produce small cars that meet tougher emissions requirements ahead of their introduction in major Indian cities from 2010,” the EIB said.
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