BYD says Buffett wants to raise stake after big win

Shanghai, August 31 (Gasgoo.com) After winning at least $1 billion from its initial investment, U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett intends to raise his stake in Chinese electric car and rechargeable battery maker BYD Co Ltd, media reported today, citing BYD's chairman.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a unit of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, acquired 10% stake in BYD for $230 million from Sept., 2008 to July, 2009, sparking a five-fold rally in the largest Hong Kong-listed auto stock. The U.S. company has made more than $1 billion from the investment.  

"MidAmerican has always intended to raise its stake in BYD because it believes BYD has good prospects in the development of renewable energy, but we are still considering (whether to sell more)," BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu told reporters today.

BYD launched the first hybrid electric car F3DM last December and has sold about 100 units of the model to government and corporate customers. It will sell the F3DM car to individual buyers starting September. BYD also plans to sell its e6 electric car in the U.S. in 2010.

In the first half of the year, BYD sold nearly 180,000 vehicles, up 150% from a year ago, which helped nearly double its net profit to 1.18 billion yuan ($173 million) for Jan-June. BYD now hopes to exceed its 2009 sales target of 400,000 vehicles.

The Chinese government has been encouraging local automakers to focus on more fuel efficient models and environmentally friendly technologies. And BYD has become a leading company in China's electric vehicle sector.