Good news for lithium ill keep my Rodinia

March 8 (Bloomberg) -- BYD Co., the Chinese automaker backed by Warren Buffett, plans to start selling electric and hybrid cars in western Europe next year on rising demand for fuel-efficient vehicles.

The E6 electric car is among the models BYD plans to introduce in the region, Paul Lin, a company spokesman, said by phone today. The Shenzhen, southern China-based carmaker may eventually design and build cars in Europe, he said.

BYD, the fastest-growing Chinese automaker last year, plans to begin European and U.S. sales as consumers seek to curb spending on gasoline and reduce emissions. The company sold 48 of its F3DM hybrid vehicles last year to corporate and government customers in China and has yet to start selling the E6 model in its home market.

“Given the limited sales and access to BYD’s E6 and dual- mode vehicles, it’s difficult to judge whether they will be competitive,” said Zhang Jing, an analyst with Phillip Securities (Hong Kong) Ltd. in Shanghai.

The automaker may start U.S. sales this year, Chairman Wang Chuanfu said in January.

BYD rose 1.1 percent to HK$64.50 as of the 12 p.m. trading break in Hong Kong. The shares have declined 5.8 percent this year.

Daimler, Volkswagen

BYD is also teaming up with Daimler AG to develop an electric vehicle to be sold in China, they said on March 2. That model may be sold overseas in the future, Lin said today.

Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler, the world’s second- largest maker of luxury cars, and BYD may invest more than 100 million euros ($137 million) in the venture, Daimler’s Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said last week.

BYD signed a separate electric-vehicle agreement in May with Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automaker. Volkswagen and BYD will explore cooperation in areas including hybrid cars and lithium battery-powered electric vehicles, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based automaker said in a May 25 statement.

BYD was China’s sixth-biggest car manufacturer by sales last year. The automaker, 10 percent owned by Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., introduced its plug-in hybrid car in December 2008.

China’s auto market grew to 13.6 million units in 2009, surpassing the U.S. for the first time. While overall passenger- car sales in the country grew 53 percent, BYD’s deliveries jumped 160 percent to about 450,000 vehicles, Wang said in January