BYD is ready to open its first factory in Brazil in 2015, according to the China Daily. The newspaper cites Adalberto Mulaf Filho, director of marketing and governmental affairs in Brazil for BYD, saying that BYD is ready to provide buses and taxis that are low-maintenance and non-polluting. BYD is part of a consortium that last week won a public bidding to develop a car-sharing plan in Rio, according to the report, for an initial fleet of 300 cars. Once the plan is developed, companies will bid to operate the service, and BYD will bid for that contract as well. BYD’s new factory will be in Campinas, Sao Paulo, operational by middle of the year; the factory will produce batteries, solar panels and assemble electric buses with imported parts. To address that the battery-powered vehicles are more expensive than traditionally fueled products, BYD is creating a lease programme where taxi companies and drivers lease cars for the amount they would spend on the fuel for a regular vehicle. Electric buses will be offered at the same prices as similar diesel-powered vehicles as well. BYD has had several cities testing the buses, working to ensure there is a customer base for when the factory is operational, the report says. BYD expects to provide a large fleet of buses to Rio by early 2016, in time for the summer Olympic games.
Significance: The report indicates BYD will build buses in Brazil, initially in CKD form, but it is not clear which light-vehicles the company is targeting for the Rio taxi programme, though it does produce an electric E6 for the Chinese market. BYD has been aggressively attacking the electric bus market across the world, including a CKD plant in the US, though the company also reported a decline in net profits for 2014. The company also recently divested an electronics subsidiary to focus on its fledgling automotive business.
