Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD announced on Friday a new brand of new energy vehicles (NEV) ranging from off-road to sports cars in its push to meet more diversified consumer demand.
The new brand is called Fang Cheng Bao, which translates from Chinese literally as “Formula” and “Leopard”. BYD said it symbolizes “the pursuit of the transformative rise and the exploration of digital realms.”
BYD is expected to launch the first model this year – an SUV identified for now internally as SF, BYD said in a statement.
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“Many people think that the global e-mobility transition is a revolution in the automobile industry, where vehicles powered by fossil fuels get replaced by electric cars. However, from BYD, we believe this is only a minor part of the whole transition, and a greater realm is unfolding”, a press release quoted BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu as saying.
BYD, with its Dynasty and Ocean series of pure electric and plug-in hybrid models mostly priced under 300,000 yuan ($42,140.16), has been out selling Volkswagen-branded cars in China since November.
It sold 996,476 cars in the first five months, nearly double the number of a year earlier.
The company launched a premium brand, Yangwang, in January and hired thousands of software engineers recently to beef up its capability in autonomous driving, an area where it has lagged rivals including Tesla.
- Reuters, with inputs from Vishakha Saxena
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