BYD enters India's passenger car market amid global push (updated)

WONIK HOLDINGS

11/10/2022 09:18

(Adds details from the launch, comments)
    By Aditi Shah
       NEW DELHI, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Warren Buffet-backed
Chinese electric carmaker BYD  002594.SZ  launched its first
passenger car in India on Tuesday, an electric sport-utility
vehicle (SUV), marking its entry into the mainstream market amid
a broader global expansion. 
    BYD, which already sells electric buses and electric
vehicles (EVs) for corporate fleets in India, launched the Atto
3 electric SUV, fitted with BYD's renowned Blade battery
technology, in the world's fourth-largest car market where Tata
Motors  TAMO.NS  dominates electric car sales. 
    "We intend to sell 15,000 units of BYD-Atto 3 in India over
the next year and plan to set up a local manufacturing facility
in due course," BYD India Executive Director Ketsu Zhang said in
a statement, adding that the company had invested more than $200
million in India.
    The move comes amid a wider global push by the Chinese
carmaker which has already started selling electric cars and
plug-in electric hybrids in markets around the world, including
Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, Costa Rica and Colombia.
    Earlier this year, BYD said it would start selling its
passenger EVs in Japan from 2023 and also has plans to set up a
facility in Thailand - its latest among 30 others in the United
States, Brazil and India - to produce 150,000 cars a year from
2024. It launched the Atto 3 electric SUV in Thailand on Monday.
    BYD's push into India also comes at a time when the South
Asian country continues to maintain tight scrutiny of
investments coming from bordering nations, including China. 
    Strict controls on such incoming investments forced Chinese
carmaker Great Wall Motor  601633.SS  to shelve plans to invest
$1 billion in India earlier this year, after it failed to obtain
regulatory approvals.
    BYD has two manufacturing plants in India, spread over
140,000 square metres with more than 3,000 employees, Zhang
said. It would not need to bring in new investments to assemble
and sell the Atto 3, a source familiar with the company's plans
said. 
    The Shenzhen-based auto and battery producer, which includes
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway  BRKa.N  as an investor, entered
India in 2007 producing batteries and components for mobile
phone makers from its plant near the southern city of Chennai. 
    In 2013 it started building buses in the country with a
local Indian partner and in 2021 it launched its e6 EV for sale
to corporate fleet operators and owners. 
 (Reporting by Aditi Shah; Additional reporting by Zoey Zhang in
Shanghai; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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