BYD launches electric bus output in California
Chinese automaker BYD Co. rolled out the first two electric buses from its California factory on Monday as it pushes into the United States and Canada.
The 40-foot battery-powered vehicles were to be delivered to the Antelope Valley Transit Authority in northern Los Angeles County, where BYD has its U.S. headquarters in the city of Lancaster.
"BYD is the harbinger of things to come," said California Gov. Jerry Brown, who led a trade mission to China in April last year and toured the BYD factory on Monday. "This is the great dream."
Brown's visit came on the same day that Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. said it would consolidate its U.S. operations in suburban Dallas, affecting about 2,000 people at its U.S. sales base in Torrance, Calif., and 1,000 employees of Toyota Financial Services in Torrance.
Orders, evaluations
BYD Motors, which employs 60 people at its plant, expects its payroll to reach 100 by year end and grow to 200 in 2015, CEO Stella Li said.
The Lancaster factory has orders from Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said Michael Austin, vice president of BYD's U.S. unit. Its buses are being evaluated by Ottawa, Montreal, New York and the Los Angeles Transportation Department he said.
BYD, of Shenzhen, is partly owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BYD is the world's largest producer of electric buses, having manufactured more than 1,300 such vehicles, according to a statement.
Selling shares
BYD plans to make 200 buses annually by the end of 2015, Austin said this month in an interview at the Beijing auto show.
Besides buses, BYD plans to introduce about four passenger-car models for its U.S. debut at the end of 2015, Li said in an interview in January. Though BYD wasn't ready when it earlier sought to enter the U.S. car market in 2010, the company is more prepared this time, she said.
BYD has revived plans to sell new stock equivalent to as much as 20 percent of its Hong Kong-traded shares, people familiar with the matter said last month. The company submitted an application with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the people said, asking not to be identified because the proposal hasn't been made public.
The funds would give the company room to step up investments and bolster production of electric cars and buses. Selling shares also would help alleviate the strain on a balance sheet that has had net debt surge last year to a record.
"BYD is the harbinger of things to come," said California Gov. Jerry Brown, who led a trade mission to China in April last year and toured the BYD factory on Monday. "This is the great dream."
Brown's visit came on the same day that Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. said it would consolidate its U.S. operations in suburban Dallas, affecting about 2,000 people at its U.S. sales base in Torrance, Calif., and 1,000 employees of Toyota Financial Services in Torrance.
Orders, evaluations
BYD Motors, which employs 60 people at its plant, expects its payroll to reach 100 by year end and grow to 200 in 2015, CEO Stella Li said.
The Lancaster factory has orders from Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said Michael Austin, vice president of BYD's U.S. unit. Its buses are being evaluated by Ottawa, Montreal, New York and the Los Angeles Transportation Department he said.
BYD, of Shenzhen, is partly owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BYD is the world's largest producer of electric buses, having manufactured more than 1,300 such vehicles, according to a statement.
Selling shares
BYD plans to make 200 buses annually by the end of 2015, Austin said this month in an interview at the Beijing auto show.
Besides buses, BYD plans to introduce about four passenger-car models for its U.S. debut at the end of 2015, Li said in an interview in January. Though BYD wasn't ready when it earlier sought to enter the U.S. car market in 2010, the company is more prepared this time, she said.
BYD has revived plans to sell new stock equivalent to as much as 20 percent of its Hong Kong-traded shares, people familiar with the matter said last month. The company submitted an application with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the people said, asking not to be identified because the proposal hasn't been made public.
The funds would give the company room to step up investments and bolster production of electric cars and buses. Selling shares also would help alleviate the strain on a balance sheet that has had net debt surge last year to a record.
