BYD unveils its electric fleet Taxi in Hong Kong
DETROIT The Chinese BYD Co car manufacturer that plans to sell a crossover all-electric vehicle in North America by the end of the year, said Tuesday that it could expand its range to export to this market in the years to come up.
Fred Ni, a general manager with BYD, said the China built crossover dubbed the e6 will be very affordable, he refused to disclose the price, but said it would be comparable to similar sized cars running on gas.
We are considering other vehicles for introduction as well, but that has not been finalized, Ni said after the company presentation at the North American International Auto Show.
BYD, which stands for build your dreams, has the backing of billionaire investor Warren Buffett's company sold 450,000 vehicles in China last year and said he wants to raise sales to 800,000 this year in its home market .
BYD said the e6 five seats went to the North American market has a top speed of 87 mph and can travel up to 205 miles on a single charge BYD said it will take about an hour to fully charge at a station dedicated to one or more out of the standard house.
Aaron Bragman, automotive analyst for IHS Global Insight in Troy, Mich said BYD will have a difficult time selling cars in the US because his views seem more than Americans are used to, and quality of the entire body panel and paint donated t measure up to US standards.
But he said he won t be long until BYD and other Chinese automakers raise their games and be competitive in the US Bragman also said BYD had his hands full of huge demand satisfactory sale and growth potential at home, and he doubts he will want to be distracted by selling cars in the U S.
BYD plans to use partnerships to establish a dealer network in the US to sell and service the e6, but locations and other details t been finalized haven BYD said the e6 will be sold soon China.
BYD began building conventional cars In 2008, he became the first automaker to launch mass production of a hybrid electric vehicle plug-in - the F3DM - that's sold in China and can be charged off a taking standard sector.
BYD began as a manufacturer of the battery and the chemistry of high-end battery that could interest other automakers or could give it an advantage over U S Tuesday manufacturers, BYD said partnership was a possibility.
We hope to join forces with manufacturers to promote electric vehicles, said Z Henry Li, general manager of auto export division BYD.
AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher contributed to this story.
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