BYD 'may join' Fortune 500 by 2017

BYD's new-energy vehicle EV300 on show at a car expo held in Beijing.[Provided to China Daily]

Carmaker's 2015 sales topped $12b thanks to boom in new-energy vehicle sector

BYD Co Ltd, a major Chinese new-energy vehicle manufacturer, is likely to join the ranks of Global Fortune 500 companies in 2017 as the carmaker has grown rapidly amid the country's booming green automobile sector, according to a top executive of the company.

"A new era has come for Chinese homegrown vehicle makers, especially in the new-energy sector," said Wang Chuanfu, chairman and chief executive officer of BYD.

Driven by the electric- and hybrid-car sectors, BYD sales topped 80 billion yuan ($12.3 billion) in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 37.8 percent, according to Wang.

"The growing momentum will be maintained in the years ahead, due to growing demand for new-energy vehicles both in the domestic and overseas markets," said Wang, predicting the company's sales will surpass 100 billion yuan in 2016.

"If the fast-growing market trend continues, we will eventually become one of the global top 500 enterprises by 2017," said Wang.

BYD is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, where companies, including Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd, Huawei Technologies Co, China Merchants Group, Amer International Group, have already become global top 500 enterprises.

"About a decade ago, electric cars were little more than just a concept. But now Chinese consumers have developed a growing interest in the new-energy vehicles," said Wang.

China's sales of new-energy cars reached more than 330,000 units in 2015, increasing by 3.4 times over the previous year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

BYD, listed in Hong Kong, has surpassed US firm Tesla Motors Inc to become the world's largest producer and seller of new-energy cars, selling 58,000 new-energy vehicles in 2015, an increase of 208.13 percent year-on-year, according to the company.

"The upward trend has arrived, with tremendous market opportunities ahead," said Wang.