Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology is setting up a new production line in Pingshan, Shenzhen, which will have a capacity to build 40,000 Denza-brand electric cars per year, reported China Auto Web, citing the company’s CEO Lian Yubo. The BYD-Daimler joint venture will complete installation of the line by the end of June.
The first car to roll out will be a pure electric sedan that will debut at the 2013 Guangzhou auto show and hit showrooms in the middle of 2014.
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Lian said, “The Denza car will be positioned above all current BYD models and target mainly consumers in large cities.”
The JV will start signing up dealers in May of which the first three are expected to come from Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Daimler already had two local partners, BAIC and Fujian Motors, when it formed a partnership with BYD in 2010. China’s government does not allow foreign firms to have more than two car-making ventures in the country, so the BYD-Daimler alliance has been described as a coalition in technology rather than a separate automaker. So the company decided to create the additional production capacity within BYD’s Kengzi plant in Pingshan.
