BYD Auto: China's first mass-produced hybrid car goes on sale today

Damn.  They'll be selling them at Wal-Mart before long......

They can pollute like nobody's business and yet still be more green then we are. 

We might as well throw in the towel, THEY OWN US!

With a long history of poorly made, cheap and dangerous products, the Chinese haven't built a reputation on quality. They might get away with it for children s toys, but it'll be a different story when one of their vehicles throws a wheel off at a top speed.

When Toyota first entered the US consensus opinion was similar to Karmart's post implication. Autos can not enter a Market, like Europe or the US, w/o passing safety benchmarks. All these points are already "in the works". The state of Oregon has already been in talks with BYD. There is much more going on. You would need to do some research, and check on the Battery as-is today. Also, understand that BYD is China's largest Battery Maker. BYD's Auto division is just one, very young, segment of their total business. They have already entered the Alt-Energy [Solar, Wind] Sector, though the "meat' of their business is in batteries used in Cell-Phones, PC's and other gizmos. I have been doing some research on BYD Company, coincidentally, since early summer. As far as the Auto division goes, BYD has already lined up a distributor network in Europe, East&West, and also Israel. BYD Company is well known and respected in China for their R&D. These are the current stats for the Auto division, followed by some additional pastes:

BYD Auto has set up a top-class R&D center in Shanghai, possessing a skilled automobile R&D team consisting of ~3,000 personnel and obtaining over 500 state R&D patents every year.

The F3DM -- which can be charged using a standard electrical outlet -- can switch between a fully electric mode and a hybrid one that uses both electricity and gasoline. BYD says the car can travel as far as 60 miles (100 km) after one charge in full-electric mode, or longer when also using its small gas tank.

While Chinese automakers have yet to enter the US market, GM should be driving scared: BYD is expecting to enter the United States and European markets in 2010 with the larger E6 sedan. Already Portland, Oregon, is bending over backwards to convince BYD to set up its US operations in the city.

In August, BYD announced it would be making its first foray abroad in Israel, "a country that strongly supports environmental technologies," said a BYD executive.

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Dec 12, 2008
BYD Begins Construction Of RMB 2.5M-Invested Solar Project

BYD Company Limited (1211.HK), an IT parts and automotive business operator, began construction of a solar cell project with a total investment of RMB 2.5 billion in Shangluo, Shanxi province on December 10, reports Shangluo Daily. BYD will invest RMB 500 million in the project's first phase, which has ground area of 270,000 square meters and will take one year to construct, said the report. The first phase is expected to produce 100MW of solar cells and sales revenue of RMB 1.02 billion per year, said the report.

There's no doubt that a quality electric vehicle or hybrid is what the average NA consumer is craving for. Because of this need, the general population will be eager to purchase vehicles that offer the greatest savings. The issue that will likely hurt American auto manufacturers (because of lack of foresight and investing in R&D) is that they won't be able to compete with an imported Chinese hybrid. The Chinese have made tremendous gains by producing cheaper products (witnessed by the success of Wal-Mart for instance) by many times exploiting a workforce without regards to safety, and working conditions. We know such actions would not be tolerated in the United States. It's very possible that companies such as BYD are setting a good example (I don't have knowledge of their working environment to offer an opinion) as suggested by 'Topshelfstuff'.

However we must not overlook the history of abuse of human rights in China, even though it holds a huge market share in the global economy. It's a moral question whether a cheaper product is worth the cost of trampling on worker's rights.

China also has a horrible record on environmental issues, so how do we know that the production of a cheaper hybrid in their country is being done in an environmentally conscious way? Are they concerned about air quality if unregulated coal fired plants are being used to produce energy for their manufacturing facilities? These are issues that Europe and North America are concerned over, which means the cost of manufacturing here will cost more. It's an unfair advantage that American auto companies will have to somehow overcome, along with the higher cost of labour.

Saving money by purchasing Chinese hybrid autos may sound good initially, however if human rights and environmentally friendly manufacturing practices aren't factored in, then what have we gained? At best we are thinking in the right direction, and at worst, it could cause the decline or possibly the end of North American auto manufacturers.

Karmart, Let me share with you some of what I have found, come to realize, and a bit of an opinion. There are some items that we all should consider.

The creation of China as the Manufacturer [Factory] of the World was instituted by US policy decisions. The majority of Manufacturing in China is US/West formerly Manufacturing done here. We moved entire Sectors "Overseas", even gave Companies/Corporations Tax-Breaks to do so. Of course along with moving our Manufacturing Base we also transferred the Jobs, Employment, and ever inceasingly the R&D.

Aside from getting Workers at a lower pay scale, these same Corporations got to bypass any of the Enviormental Laws that were set-up here to assure the Enviornment wasn't further damaged. Its too late now, but I'll say that the path we took has caused so much damage, in many ways. It never should have happened the way it did.

I was amazed when I first began researching [most of my research was rooted as an investor]. Take SOLAR as an example. I had no idea that Solar Power was as advanced as I found it to be. I could only determine that this was by design, IOW, like other items TPTB doesn't want an informed, educated, up-to-date citizenry.

As Americans we view China, and the Chinese People/Workers, as very Low Paid Employees. What doesn't mesh with this concept is the Fact that these same People have the Highest Savings Rate in the World, about 50% of Pay. So obviously we don't have the full or clear Picture. Match that with the US People who have a Savings Rate non-existant, Net/Negative.

I can say its ironic; BYD Company as one example. This company had zero experience with Autos, but look how far they've come since they began as a company in 1995, and only entered the Auto sector 5 years ago, 2003.

I've seen and researched Solar Power companies, and found examples in China, Europe, Latin America, where they are far ahead of us, mainly because their governments have supported the use of this technology, and constant R&D. Just too much research notes on this broad topic, a Bigger Picture, to post.

Let me just add one link, and add this; You'll find in most cases its the MNC's, Multi National Corporations, solely focused on short-term profits, who instead of seeking improved Environmental Laws, improved Labor Laws, will actually do the opposite, and only agree to move Operations to a country that weakens the laws in the MNC's interest.

"A meeting in Oslo suggests that the current model of the Markets and
Globalization may not be the way to go. This is because when it comes
to a country trying to impose some environmental or societal
considerations and legislation on multinational corporations, they
just move to a country where the rules and regulations aren't as
strict."

Most of the focus is on China, but its Global, and who do you think started this ball rolling........yeah, we did.........paste:

http://www.explore.rice.edu/explore/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=9551

The presence of MNCs in China has certainly changed the competitive playing field, something that Zhang and Li expect to eventually see in India and other emerging markets. "In China, you don’t just compete against Chinese companies," said Li. "The U.S. is competing against other entrants, earlier entrants, from Europe and Japan. The more entrants, the more they will affect each other and the local economy."

Li points to China’s burgeoning auto industry. Just about every auto industry leader in the world, including GM, has facilities and a vested interest in China. "In recent years, GM’s growth has been coming from overseas sales, not domestic. If you want to be a dominant player globally, you have to take care of the emerging markets. You have to understand your customers there. You have to do your research and development there."

Because so many global automakers operate in China, the Chinese can leverage this competition and look for the best partners. So if one company will not share its technology, they can look for a partner that will.

The notion of competition facilitating technology spillover is something Zhang and Li are examining in a follow-up project. "How does the entrance of MNCs affect productivity and growth of local functions? How do their strategies link to local firm outcomes? We don’t know yet, but we are very interested in a direct test of this spillover effect," said Li.

It’s still a learning process for MNCs and their R&D efforts, added Zhang. But local firms can learn from the process as well, and they have a lot to teach the MNCs. "If this is done right, the spillover will go both ways; global companies can be successful, and so can the local firms."

Topshelfstuff,

Lots of good research and information, I appreciate the effort. The points I've gathered from your response and my own observations are; the Chinese will be a leader in hybrids as the technology will flow their direction as America and perhaps other Western countries see an opportunity to exploit cheaper labour and less stringent environmental concerns. Europe and some developing countries are far ahead of North America with the introduction of alternative energy production. From my understanding this is due to the fact that European nations have felt the financial impact of rising oil prices more significantly than in the US and Canada. Finally we woke up one day and realized that we are also at the mercy of foreign oil producers, and saw how far we are behind in green initiatives including solar, wind, geothermal etc.

The marketplace for cleantech companies looks promising and potentially unlimited at this point, which means an opportunity for countless start-ups to take hold. As you have referred to multinationals taking a major role in the environmental market and shifting away from the oil companies' stranglehold, we should see much more hybrid, electric and hydrogen car production, windmill generating systems, solar powered generating plants and much more. Following the success of these smaller companies the multinationals would then start buying up the technology these smaller start-up companies developed. I imagine this would follow along the lines similar to what happened in the IT industry more than a decade ago.

However there is still resistance to change, especially in America which has a long history and deep roots in domestic oil production, coal mining and more recently nuclear generating plants. My fear is that if the US and Canada do not get into the action soon when it comes to alternative energy production; we'll fall into the same pattern that caused US auto manufacturers to decline. That being; complacency and the lack of foresight and initiative, which none of us can afford, in these difficult and uncertain financial times.

I saw a little car the Japanese made once on t.v. It was only as big as a briefcase. Looked like one. Open it up. lay it flat, stick the wheels on the side, the steering wheel on and Wa-la! He sped off across the stage! I want one like that. I think the Japanese can make better stuff than the Chinese. They're too cheap.