BYD Auto - History

History

BYD Co Ltd created the wholly owned subsidiary BYD Auto a year after its 2002 acquisition of the Qinchuan Automobile Company, which may have been made solely to acquire the passenger car production license held by the purchased company. While the Chinese state is credited with development of an indigenous auto industry, BYD Auto may have been created in the absence of a State policy explicitly supporting independently owned automobile manufacturers.

In 2008 BYD Auto began selling its first mass-produced, full hybrid vehicle, the BYD F3DM. China subsidizes oil (an incentive for the State to encourage use and manufacture of electric cars), and Chinese automakers see opportunities in less mature electric vehicles because Western companies have yet to develop much of a lead in the technology. In late December 2008 Warren Buffett spent $230 million buying up a 10% stake in BYD Auto's parent, BYD Company. In 2009 the company sold 448,400 cars in China, and two-thirds of sales were its BYD F3 model. That same year saw BYD exports its cars to Africa, South America, and the Middle East.

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