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Updated Monday, December 15, 2008 11:06 am TWN, By Don Lee, Los Angeles Times



	A visitor to the BYD Auto booth looks over a cut-away version of a BYD plug-in hybrid sitting on display during the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 15. (Bloomberg News) Enlarge Photo

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Chinese firm drives up the ante in car market

SHENZHEN, China -- With the Detroit Big Three automakers teetering and China’s once go-go car market in reverse, this might seem a bad time for a relative unknown to be launching a new vehicle. Then again, BYD Co. isn’t rolling out any ordinary car.

On Monday, the upstart company best known for making cell-phone batteries will begin selling its F3DM — China’s first mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle. The car is expected to retail for around US$20,000 in China, and make its way to the U.S. in 2011.

“For a long time, China’s auto technology was undeveloped,” BYD founder and President Wang Chuanfu, 42, said in an interview Friday at its hexagon-shaped headquarters here. “But our (electric car) technology marks the first time we’re standing as a leader on the world stage.”

Whether that assessment is overblown — Toyota, Honda and General Motors may certainly think so — people familiar with Wang say they wouldn’t underestimate him. Since starting the company in 1995, Wang has built BYD, short for Build Your Dream, into the world’s leading producer of rechargeable batteries for mobile phones and laptops, among other products.

Combining its auto and hand-set parts businesses, BYD generated about US$3 billion in revenue last year, a 64 percent increase from 2006, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where the company is listed.

Among those betting on BYD is Warren E. Buffett, who in September bought a 9.9 percent stake in the manufacturer for US$230 million.

The famous investor apparently was impressed with BYD’s green technology and Wang’s record as a manager. Wang said Buffett’s investment would be of particular help as BYD prepares to enter the U.S. market in 2011 with its electric vehicles. GM plans to introduce its electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, in 2010.

Analysts don’t doubt Wang’s resolve or his company’s technical capabilities; Wang is a metallurgical chemist by training, and BYD spent several years developing the ferrous battery technology for the car, giving it a quicker recharge time and price advantage over the lithium-ion battery used in Toyota’s Prius.

But having a better battery won’t assure success in the marketplace. And BYD doesn’t have the time-worn experience in design, engineering, manufacturing and marketing of its world-class competitors.

“I have faith in (BYD’s) technology,” said Michael Dunne, the Shanghai-based managing director of J.D. Power in China. “What needs to be confirmed is whether they can build reliable, high-quality cars. That’s their challenge.”

BYD got into the car market in 2003, and the F3DM is a modified version of its gas-powered F3 model. The DM in the name stands for dual-mode, reflecting its ability to operate in both full-electric and gas-electric hybrid modes. The electric mode has a range of 60 miles on a single charge.

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