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BYD, Daimler and DS reveal city's advances in making cars
Shenzhen has long been a high-revving automotive hub. The city is best known as mainland China's powerhouse for electric cars, thanks to the rapid expansion of BYD, which was established here in 1995. Listed on the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges, and backed by American investor Warren Buffett, the Pingshan, Longgang-based company has become the world's largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries and electric vehicles (EV).
BYD's Iron Phosphate "Fe" Battery, for instance, leads the world in fire-safe, completely recyclable and environmentally friendly electricity storage. Such technological advances have driven the company's expansion into making sophisticated energy storage stations and solar farms.
With 180,000 staff and nearly 17 million square metres of workspace in 22 industrial parks worldwide, BYD has also made Shenzhen - and China - the technological knowledge hub of the world's electric car industry.
BYD's plug-in vehicles are proving popular in 200 cities in 48 countries on six continents. Such success is largely because of the company's long experience in EVs - BYD launched the world's first production plug-in hybrid, the F3DM, in December 2008 - two years before the Chevrolet Volt. BYD also sold 61,722 EVs to gain an 11 per cent global market share last year, "more than Nissan or Tesla", the marque says, and "all but a handful [are] in China".
So there was excitement at Beijing's National Stadium on April 11, when BYD expanded its Dynasty Series of cars with the new Yuan model, and then reaffirmed its commitment to making all forms of plug-in transport.
Shenzhen is also the home of Denza, the 50-50 R&D technology joint-venture established in 2010 between BYD and Daimler. Their first car rolled off the production line at Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology in September 2014. The city is also the base for Changan PSA Peugeot Citroën Automobile, a 50-50 joint venture between the French automotive conglomerate and Changan Motors. Their partnership began in 2011 and operates vehicle-manufacturing facilities in 1.3 million square metres, notably for the upmarket French DS brand. The plant's DS 5 crossover, DS 5LS and DS 6 boast the highest standards of workmanship in Shenzhen.
