(BRK.A), (BRK.B)
While Tesla continues to target the mainstream passenger vehicle market as its path to success, Chinese vehicle and battery manufacturer BYD Company Ltd. is making dramatic progress not only in the passenger vehicle market, but also in the electric bus market. It’s a huge market that the company has practically to itself.
BYD’s recently marked the production of its 10,000th pure-electric bus. The milestone was six years in the making.
BYD’s Changsha electric bus factory gives the company the manufacturing capability to meet the needs of China’s growing electric mass transit needs. Air pollution and carbon emissions are the key drivers of the move to pure electric buses. In China, diesel buses make up just 10% of the vehicles on the road but contribute over 30% of city air pollution and GHG emissions.
The market in China alone is huge, and BYD in January 2016 delivered the first of 300 of its BYD K7 buses to the Chinese city of Shanwei, in Guangdong Province. The city plans to have 3,010 pure electric buses in service by 2019.
BYD’s pure electric buses and taxis are currently operating in over 200 cities in 48 countries worldwide, including the U.S., Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, the UK, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Thailand, and China.
BYD and Berkshire Hathaway
In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares, and today owns roughly 9.1% of the company.
For More on BYD, read the Special Report: BYD, Berkshire’s Tesla.
© 2016 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.