BYD's F3DM

By Shi Jierui

China's automobile manufacturer BYD Auto has sold only 417 electric vehicles (EV) in 2010, far less than the previously rumored 1,000 units.

BYD's public relations person Zhang Yufeng told the Global Times that all the EV models sold are the company's plug-in hybrid compact sedan F3DM.

Another PR person, Wang Wenxin, said the 417 vehicles are sold via various sales channels, but she didn't reveal the distribution details of the models.

According to China Business News Thursday, most of the purchases were from individual users, and the government procurement, which was supposed to play a key role ( taking up 80 percent of the total) in BYD's electric vehicle sales in 2010, didn’t help much.

The Shenzhen-based automaker started to sell the F3DM from March 2010, with a price of 169,800 yuan ($25,625.45).

BYD's vehicle sales in 2010 reached about 520,000 units.