BYD: New Chinese Threat? Edmunds
SHENZHEN, China — The latest Chinese automaker to climb on the export bandwagon overseas is a relative newcomer whose parent is one of the world's largest producers of cell phone batteries.
BYD Auto has been building cars for less than 10 years, and last year sold only 60,000 vehicles in China. Those were mostly its compact F3 sedan, a knockoff of the Toyota Corolla. This year, it wants to hike sales to 150,000.
Now the company is preparing to launch its midsize F6 sedan, with 2.0- and 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines, and says it wants to bring the car to the U.S. by 2010. Before then, it plans to begin selling the smaller F3 in Europe, starting in 2008.
In China, the F3 starts at a modest $9,400, while the F6 is expected to retail for around $19,800.
BYD is likely to encounter stiff resistance from such other Chinese competitors as Brilliance, Chery and Geely — all of whom are gearing up for major export drives over the next two to three years.
What this means to you: BYD is hardly a catchy brand name.
Print | posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 2:53 PM