Last year, the two companies formed a 50-50 joint R&D venture called "Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co. Ltd" or "BDNT" for short, to create a new brand that will focus on the development of pure electric vehicles for China.
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BYD’s sales in the first six months of 2011 were down 23.4%, to 220,131 units. Deliveries of the core models of its range, such as the F0 city car, the F3 compact and the F6 mid-sized sedan plunged right after the governments incentives for new car buyers stopped at the end of last year.
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The latest edition included 65 brands and 161 separate models in nine segments and is based on responses from 4,979 potential buyers of new-vehicles located in 53 cities.
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So far, China’s “Big Four” (well, the four most visible to those outside of China) have made and broken promises of bringing their vehicles to the North American market. Brilliance, Chery, Nanjing and Geely have all backed down from their plans to open dealerships and factories stateside. So far, not a single car from China's major automakers has touched down on U.S. soil outside a motor show.
The gasoline-electric hybrid is based on the Chinese firm's S6, a mid-size SUV model first introduced at the Shanghai Auto Show in 2009. And no, you're not the only one to find the overall styling of the S6 reminiscent of the previous generation Lexus RX.
The two companies said that they are planning to invest a total of 600 million yuan (US$87.9 million) in the 50-50 partnership in China.
According to a statement made by Daimler, the German automaker will bring its "know-how in electric vehicle architecture and safety" to the venture, while BYD will contribute "it's excellence in battery technology and e-drive systems".