CEO says sales topped $12b thanks to boom in green vehicles

BYD Co Ltd, the Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer, could join the ranks of Global Fortune 500 companies in 2017, as the carmaker has grown rapidly amid the boom in green cars, its top executive says.

"A new era has come for domestic automakers, especially in the new energy sector," says Wang Chuanfu, the company's chairman and chief executive.

Driven by electric cars and hybrids, BYD sales topped 80 billion yuan ($12.3 billion; 10.9 billion euros) last year, up 37.48 percent year-on-year, he says.

"The growing momentum will be maintained because of the growing demand for new energy vehicles, both in domestic and overseas markets," the CEO says, adding that he predicts sales will surpass 100 billion yuan this year.

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

BYD is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, along with Fortune 500 companies Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, Huawei Technologies Co, China Merchants Group and Amer International Group.

"About a decade ago, e-cars were little more than a concept. Now, Chinese consumers have developed a growing interest in new energy vehicles," Wang says.

More than 330,000 new energy vehicles were sold in China last year, 3.4 times more than 2014, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

BYD, which is listed in Hong Kong, surpassed US company Tesla Motors Inc to become the world's largest producer and seller of new energy cars last year, selling 58,000 units, up 208 percent year-on-year, the company says.

Wang adds, "The upward trend has arrived and tremendous market opportunities lay ahead."

[email protected]