BYD, Daimler finalize electric vehicle design; prototype phase underway

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Back in March of 2010, Daimler and BYD linked up to develop an electric car for the booming Chinese market. In May 2010, the pair of automakers made the deal official, signing a joint venture (JV) contract in Beijing that established the Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co. Ltd. Then, last month, the duo announced that they were granted regulatory approval to develop an electric car in China.

Now, the 50:50 joint venture between BYD and Daimler has announced that it finalized the design of its first electric vehicle and kicked off the prototyping phase, something BYD is calling a "major milestone."

In related news, the JV also announced that Ulrich Walker, chief executive officer of Daimler Northeast Asia Investment Co. Ltd, will become chairman of its board and that Yubo Lian, senior vice president of BYD, has been named the JV's president and chief executive officer.




[Source: BYD]
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BYD-Daimler's First Electric Vehicle (EV) Design Completed, Prototyping Started

SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 50:50 Joint Venture between BYD and Daimler Mercedes-Benz (called the Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Company Limited), announced at its first board meeting since receiving its business license from the Market Supervision Administration of Shenzhen (MSAS) that Mr. Ulrich Walker CEO of Daimler Northeast Asia Investment Co. Ltd, would be the Chairman of the Board of BYD-Daimler and that Mr. Yubo Lian Senior Vice President of BYD Co., Ltd and Chief Engineer of BYD's auto business would be President and CEO.

The Joint Venture has made significant progress since cooperation began over a year ago – the design of the first BYD-Daimler electric vehicle (EV) model has been finalized and prototyping has been kicked off – a major milestone. Both parties will work on EV production preparations and team members from design, engineering, procurement, and quality management have all relocated to the BYD Shenzhen Headquarters.

From the outset of the collaboration, BYD and Daimler put special emphasis on high quality standards for design of the vehicle. The whole process of new vehicle design has been closely supervised by Mercedes-Benz Quality Management experts. This process has included creating a new international supply chain and the selection of the right combination of mold-makers and high-quality component suppliers. Cooperation with the World's leading suppliers plays an important role in safeguarding the new vehicle's superior quality. The electric vehicle co-developed by the joint venture will capitalize on Daimler's know-how in highly-reliable and safe electric vehicle architectures as well as combining BYD's leading-edge, environmentally-friendly, Iron-Phosphate battery technology and electric drive systems. The vehicle will be marketed under the new brand jointly created and owned by Daimler and BYD.

About BYD

BYD is ranked #1 at the top of Bloomberg's and BusinessWeek's 2009 Tech 100 List and is the leading manufacturer of advanced, environmentally-friendly battery technologies like the BYD's Iron Phosphate battery. BYD's solar panels and LED lighting systems have TUV/CE and UL listings, and the company enjoys rapid growth in consumer electronics space and automobile manufacturing under its BYD brand. With investments from Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) and MidAmerican Energy Holdings, today, BYD is the fastest-growing Chinese automotive and green energy technology manufacturer. The Company trades on the Hong Kong exchange (HKE) under the ticker numbers (HK.0285 – BYD Electronics) and (HK.1211 – BYD Company Ltd). For more information, visit www.bydit.com or email pr@byd.com.

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