Warren Buffet-backed BYD (Build Your Dreams) has become the latest Chinese automaker to announce plans to enter the U.S. retail market in the near future.
After suffering through a rocky period, including an abortive U.S. launch in 2010 and a three-year reorganization, BYD says it is now back on track and will begin selling cars in America in late 2015.
“Back [in 2010], we had passion, but we had no brand, no history, no capital and no competitive advantage,” said Stella LI, senior vice president of the brand’s U.S. operations. “BYD has become more fashionable and we have improved our design and safety. We don’t want to compete on price anymore, but on quality and innovation.”
BYD is hardly the only Chinese automaker eyeing the U.S. market – Geely, the parent company of Volvo, intends to arrive on these shores in 2016 with models co-developed with its Swedish subsidiary. China’s largest producer of SUVs, Great Wall Motors, last year signaled that it would make its way stateside in 2015, although the company has subsequently relaxed its timetable.
For its part, BYD intends to debut in the U.S. with as many as four models, including a range-topping compact plug-in hybrid sedan known as the Qin (pictured above). Named for the dynasty founded by the emperor who unified China, the Qin – prounced “chin” – exemplifies the company’s focus on vehicle electrification, packing two electric motors in addition to a 300-horsepower turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder.
BYD claims that the Qin possesses an electric-only range of up to 43 miles and is capable of sprinting from zero-to-60 mph in 5.9 seconds. In China, where it went on sale last month, the sedan is priced from 189,800 yuan ($31,400) before government subsidies.
Despite its unsuccessful retail launch in 2010, BYD has been able to sell small amounts of all-electric buses to commercial buyers in the United States. With the help of $2 million in tax subsidies, it has opened a plant in Lancaster, California, that will begin churning out electric buses in March.
Along with its not-inconsiderable automotive business – it’s the world’s largest producer of electric buses – BYD also builds solar panels, LED lights and mobile phones.
BYD is partially owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, which bought a 9.9 percent stake in the automaker in 2009.
Check out the BYD Qin’s accelerative abilities in the videos below.
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