BYD expects green car subsidy to boost sales

Shanghai, April 1 (Gasgoo.com) BYD Auto said it is hoping the government policy of subsidising environmentally-friendly vehicles will be implemented in the second half of this year to help boost sales of "green cars" in the country, reported South China Morning Post.

Company chairman Wang Chuanfu told the newspaper that sales of green cars driven by alternative energy will be lifted if the government's subsidy can extend to individual consumers, as "a green car is priced at 70,000 yuan ($12,260) to 80,000 yuan more expensive than an ordinary petrol/gasoline-engine car."

He added that the government should subsidize as much as 30,000 yuan for the cost of each car that runs on an alternative powertrain to encourage sales of such vehicles.

In a separate report, the Chairman said BYD is negotiating with one U.S. automaker and two in Europe about supplying lithium-ion batteries to them. The batteries will be the same ones used in its F3DM sedan it produces in Shenzhen, where BYD is based.

BYD Auto launched its first plug-in hybrid car, the F3DM sedan, last December. Initially the sedans are only sold to Chinese fleet customers, such as state-owned enterprises and government agencies.