BEIJING — The first Chinese-made car to hit the U.S. market might be an all- electric minivan that skips over gasoline technology and gets a head start on the auto industry’s next era. BYD, part-owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, hopes to start selling its five-seat e6 on the West Coast this year.
The e6, displayed this week at the Beijing Auto Show, is one of a series of “green” vehicles being developed by Chinese automakers that run on everything from batteries to solar panels and tiny wind turbines. They lag Western rivals in technology.
“Automakers want to invest because they know it’s one area where they can really compete abroad,” said Liu Lixi, an auto analyst with Northeast Securities in Shanghai.
Beijing is promoting green transportation in hopes of cleaning up its battered environment, cutting its surging reliance on imported oil and capturing a share of a promising infant industry with no entrenched competitors. The Associated Press; AP photo
