SHENZHEN, Mar 16, 2010 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) —
Wang Chuanfu, board chairman, president and CEO of BYD Co., Ltd. (SEHK: 1211), discloses that the company plans to set up regional headquarters in the US to sell renewable energy vehicles by the end of 2010.
A top executive of Shenzhen BYD Auto Co., Ltd. in charge of public relations says that the company will launch five new car models this year, including L3, I6, G6, S6 and M6, whose price ranges top CNY 100,000.
An analyst of Ping An Securities
Co., Ltd. points out that BYD forayed into the automobile industry through battery production. Hence, it would be a better choice for the company to start from low-end products.
Currently, BYD is selecting locations for its US headquarters. The company is likely to build plants in the local market if its electric car E6 is sold well there. However, insiders remain cautious toward BYD’s ambition.
For example, an analyst of BoCom International Holdings Co., Ltd. believes that it is difficult for BYD to obtain robust sales growth in the US, because the country is still backward in the construction of supporting facilities like charging stations.
An analyst of Yuanta Securities points out that the popularization of electric cars depends on infrastructure construction. However, no investor
is willing to build charging stations without the production of electric cars.
Wang admits that the manufacturing of environmental-friendly vehicles is still suffering from losses. But, he reveals that E6 is sold at around USD 40,000, which is still competitive. Moreover, E6 will be directly sold to big names, environmentalists and group customers from the utility field.
Besides foraying into the North American market, BYD takes other steps in the oversea market. Lately, the company inked a memo with Daimler (NYSE: DAI) on the development of electric cars.
Meanwhile, BYD is seeking cooperation with Volkswagen in the fields of hybrid and lithium battery-driven electric cars. Its traditional vehicles have been sold to Russia and Middle East. Wang believes that E6 will be sold in Europe in the first half of 2011.
In the future, electric cars will account for more of BYD’s total sales. The company is currently strengthening its R&D of solar cell and storage power station projects, planning to put CNY 500 million in the construction of solar power plants in 2010.
Within 2010, BYD’s expenditure will top CNY 10 billion, which will be used for the setup of an auto manufacturing base in Changsha City, Hunan Province, central China and production expansion in Xi’an and Shenzhen.
(USD 1 = CNY 6.83)
Source: www.mysteel.com (March 16, 2010)
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