BYD Wants Sales of 400,000 Cars in 2009

Chinese car company BYD has quite enthusiastic plans for 2009, with the company planning to sell around 400,000 vehicles in 2009, which basically means double figures compared to those of the previous year. BYD's chairman Wang Chuanfu confirmed for Bloomberg that the Chinese carmaker will begin selling an electric vehicle in the United States as soon as early 2010 and will start delivering the F3DM plug-in hybrid car to individual consumers next month.

BYD will launch a limited number of all-electric e6 in the US in 2010. The car will come with a price tag of around $40,000 and will be offered through a limited number of US stores.

"In the beginning, our target customers are going to be government agencies, utilities and maybe some celebrities," Wang said last week.

"Electric vehicles are an opportunity. The issue is how we can seize the opportunity and bring our advantage into play. New energy vehicles will gain a bigger market share and we are riding the trend... I believe we will be able to make the division break even within five years," Henry Z. Li, general manager of BYD Auto's export division, said in April.

BYD recently signed a deal with SAIC to supply lithium-ion batteries for powering electric and hybrid vehicles. The batteries are said to last for 600,000 km and 2,000 recharges. A report by gasgoo.com citing the Beijing News revealed that SAIC will purchase the batteries to power its Roewe hybrid vehicles that are expected to hit the market next year. Preliminary figures are claiming the hybrids can improve fuel efficiency by 20 percent compared to the current models, the source added.