China’s BYD Co (比亞迪) stopped production of fossil-fueled vehicles last month to focus on electric and hybrid cars amid Beijing’s promotion of greener vehicles to cut pollution, it said on Sunday.
The Shenzhen-based company would still produce and supply components for gasoline-fueled vehicles, and provide service and after-sales guarantees to existing customers, BYD said in its output and sales statement for last month to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The company, which is backed by Warren Buffett, said it was committed to building low-carbon and environmentally friendly vehicles.
Photo: Reuters
“By doing this, BYD has become the first automotive manufacturer [in the world] to stop the production of fuel combusting vehicles,” it wrote on Twitter.
Data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence shows battery-powered, plug-in hybrid sales overtook fossil-fuel vehicle sales last year for the first time for BYD.
BYD’s vehicle production rose 170 percent to 292,165 units in the first quarter of the year, including 4,635 oil-fueled units, the statement said.
The Chinese automaker, which also makes electric vehicle (EV) batteries, is the first domestic player to sell 100,000 EVs or plug-in hybrid cars per month, Beijing-based advisory firm Sino Auto Insights said.
“The announcement was pretty ceremonial,” Sino Auto founder Tu Le (涂樂) said. “What we’ll see is their acceleration into the EV sector. It enables them to focus, so they can move a little bit faster.”
BYD’s all-in shift is in contrast to what Ford Motor Co is doing, Tu added.
The US automaking giant last month said it would split its EV and legacy vehicle businesses into separate units within the company as it accelerates its electric shift.
Separately, Toyota Motor Corp reaffirmed its commitment to the UK after a newspaper reported it might halt making cars in the country because of government plans to shift more rapidly to fully electric vehicles.
The Japanese automaker said it is ready to sell only zero emission cars and reiterated its view that hybrids have a role to play in the transition by 2035, as the UK prepares to set new targets for the auto industry.
Toyota is focused on achieving a long-term and sustainable future in Europe, including for its British plants, the automaker said in an e-mailed statement.
The company was responding to a Sunday Times report that it had warned British Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps that it might cease manufacturing in Britain.
Toyota said it shares the UK’s ambition to head toward zero emissions, but declined to comment on the government’s mandates because it has not seen a draft of the rules being prepared by the British Department for Transport.
“We continue to see a role for many different technologies in the transition to zero emission based on the principle of mobility for all — including the current hybrid vehicles built in the UK,” Toyota said in the statement.
The UK plans to ban sales of new cars that run entirely on gasoline and diesel after 2030 and is permitting hybrid sales until 2035.
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