China's BYD lifts 2010 auto sales target

• Source: Global Times
• [03:37 December 31 2009]
• Comments

Chinese battery and carmaker BYD has raised its 2010 sales target as it prepares to roll out its first electric cars.

BYD, 10 percent owned by US billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, aims to sell 800,000 vehicles next year, up from a previous target of 700,000 units, said Paul Lin, manager of the company's marketing department.

He attributed the revision to robust demand from Chinese consumers following Beijing's 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) economic stimulus plan, which includes several measures specifically to boost car sales.

"The company already reached its 2009 target of 400,000 vehicles in November, so now we are setting our 2010 target to double that number at 800,000 units," Lin said, adding that this year's final sales should come in at around 440,000 units.

BYD's F3 sedan was the best-selling car in China in the first 11 months of this year, official data showed.

To help meet market demand, BYD's new bus plant in the central Chinese city of Changsha and a car plant in the northwestern city of Xi'an will start operation next year, adding up to 700,000 units of capacity, Lin said.

BYD, which has sold several hundred of its plug-in hybrid, F3DM, unveiled in December 2008 plans to start selling its first electric car, the e6, in China in the first quarter of 2010, Lin said. The e6 passed government safety inspections in the country and received other necessary permits, he said, adding the firm remained committed to exporting the model to the United States next year.

BYD's shares, traded in Hong Kong, have surged more than 422 percent since the beginning of this year.

The shares fell 3.78 percent in early afternoon trading Wednesday, lagging a 0.51 percent fall of the market.

Reuters