BYD mulls 're-birth' plan

Workers work in front of the logo of Chinese car manufacturer BYD Auto, at the World Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Nov 4, 2010. [Photo / Agencies]

BYD Co may stop making conventional gasoline-fuelled cars within two years and focus on 'new energy' battery models to promote sales, Reuters reported.

Shares in BYD have tumbled by almost three quarters since a late-2009 peak, as net profit crumbled to just 81.4 million yuan ($13.15 million) last year from 3.8 billion yuan four years ago.

Now, the company is poring over internal plans to radically adjust and possibly streamline its business - which sprawls across batteries, cellphone assembly, solar panels, LED light bulbs, and electric and gasoline-powered cars and buses.

At the heart of the 're-birth' is a plan to ditch gasoline-fuelled cars, and maybe offload its solar panel business, and concentrate on new greener battery technologies, said two senior BYD executives, who asked not to be named as the plans have not been finalized.

The company is expected to unveil its Green Hybrid Technology at the Shanghai auto show on Saturday.

It's a bold move, and not without risk. But the executives said BYD, based in the southern industrial city of Shenzhen, recognizes it needs to find an edge in its business, which has suffered as auto sales, which accounted for around half the company's revenue, slumped. BYD last year sold 457,700 cars.