BYD, the mainland carmaker in which US investor Warren Buffett has a 9.9 per cent stake, said yesterday that its much anticipated electric car would be delayed because Beijing had not decided the level of subsidy it would offer to buyers.
'If the central government can't substantiate the supportive policies, such as subsidisation and safety benchmarks, we can't launch the E6,' Du Guozhong, general manager for communications at Hong Kong-listed BYD, said.
BYD, which already makes a plug-in hybrid car, had promised to begin large-scale production of the electric car on the mainland by mid-year and to launch it in the United States by the end of this year.
But Du said BYD could not meet its original plan. At the same time, the company disclosed that the car would sell for 300,000 yuan (HK$340,000), roughly the price of an Audi A4 or Honda CR-V.
The delay could mark a setback for BYD - whose stock sells at a remarkable multiple of 112 times forward expected earnings - and for the mainland, which hopes to become a leader in clean-car technology.
It had earlier been reported that Beijing would announce subsidies for clean cars in the first quarter, and BYD had hoped for consumer subsidies of as much as 100,000 yuan. But analysts said the government had baulked at that level of support.
Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang has been a strong advocate of electric vehicles. In April last year, he urged large domestic carmakers to jointly explore development of the components for alternative-fuel vehicles.
