BYD bids for the top gear
- Source: Ce.cn
- [14:59 July 28 2009]
- Comments
A BYD S8 car being displayed at a recent auto show in Beijing. BYD Auto, a privately-owned automaker in the country, plans to sell 700,00 units in 2010.
China's privately owned battery and automobile maker BYD Co is expanding its product line-up and capacity through a series of moves it made over weekend.
BYD, part owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, agreed with Foshan Weishang Technology Industry Development Group last Friday to purchase the latter's total stake in Hunan Midea Coach, an ailing bus maker from Changsha (Hunan province), for 60 million yuan, BYD said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Sunday.
It also signed an agreement with the Changsha government on Saturday to invest in a bus-and-minivan manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of 400,000 units and focusing on new energy models.
The same day, the Shenzhen-based company planned to expand its existing production facility in Xi'an (Shaanxi province) by setting up a new plant with an annual output of 400,000 units to produce its F3 cars, other new models and auto parts, BYD stated.
F3 is the most popular BYD model and has been China's fourth-best selling car in the first half of the year.
The automaker's shares rose 6.83 percent to HK$43.8 yesterday in Hong Kong. It has more than tripled since the beginning of this year.
"It's a positive move for BYD to acquire the 54-year-old Midea Coach as it plans to tap into the commercial vehicles segment," said Jia Xinguang, chief analyst with the Chinese National Automotive Industry Consulting and Development Corp. "The inexpensive acquisition would provide BYD with the necessary government licenses to build buses and coaches."
