toledoblade.com --

DETROIT - Fledgling Chinese automaker BYD Auto Co. Ltd. - a Chinese battery maker with backing for its auto venture from billionaire Warren Buffet - announced yesterday that it plans to formally enter the crowded and competitive U.S. auto market by 2011.

But the most intriguing part of the company's comments came after the press conference during media preview week at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in downtown Detroit. For while it may be two or three years before BYD sells its cars in North America, it might come to Toledo much sooner.

During last year's auto show in Detroit, executives from BYD took a road trip south to Toledo to check out the area to see if it matched their future needs. And according to Paul Lin, a manager in the company's auto export trade division, they liked what they saw.

"Toledo is quite a good place. They have a lot of facilities that come from General Motors and some other suppliers," Mr. Lin said. "I think we have to see now what happens in the coming few months with the slowdown [in the economy]. It would be a good place to set up a manufacturing site. We're analyzing right now whether to set up in Mexico or in the U.S., but we are coming [to North America]."

IF YOU GO

Public show: Jan. 17-Jan. 25

Where: Cobo Center, Detroit Hours: Daily 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., except Jan. 25: 9 a.m.-7p.m.

Tickets: Adult: $12; seniors (65 and older), children ages 7-12: $6; children 6 and under: free.

On display: More than 700 vehicles, including about 50 concepts and North American or world introductions.

From Toledo: (1) Northbound I-275 to eastbound I-94 to southbound M-10 to Larned Street exit, or (2) Northbound I-75 to northbound U.S 24 (Telegraph Road) to eastbound I-94 to southbound M-10 to Larned Street exit, or (3) Northbound I-75 to northbound M-39 (Southfield Road) to eastbound I-94 to southbound M-10 to Larned Street exit.

BYD, located in China's Shenzhen province, has its manufacturing roots in batteries, but since 2003 has manufactured and sold a small number of gasoline-powered small cars in China. Last month, it introduced two dual-mode hybrid vehicles to the domestic Chinese market, the F3DM and F6DM - models it intends to one day bring to the United States, Mr. Lin said.

Both vehicles are on display this year on the main floor of the North American International Auto Show, along with an all-electric small car It calls the e6.

The heart of BYD's technology is its ferrous iron battery system, which Mr. Lin explained has similar power capacity and recharging characteristics as its higher-priced lithium-ion competitors, with far less worry about excessive heat. The battery has a 10-year lifetime and can be recharged to 50 percent of its capacity in just 10 minutes.

The company might consider either an auto plant or a battery plant for northwest Ohio, Mr. Lin said.

Toledo area economic development officials hosted BYD executives at the Toledo Club last year and sought to promote the region as a good place for the company to set up its headquarters. BYD officials were impressed not only with the region's prowess in manufacturing automobiles and auto parts, but also its reach into alternative energies, such as solar.

BYD is one of two Chinese manufacturers up on the show's main floor this year. Shenyang Brilliance Jinbei Automobile Co. Ltd., or Brilliance Auto for short, introduced four vehicles to auto journalists yesterday.

Although it is a far larger auto manufacturer in China than BYD, Brilliance appears for now to be satisfied exporting its passenger and commercial vehicles to 70 other countries, including Russia, the European Union, Egypt, and South Africa.

"We have a development strategy of simultaneous entrance into both the domestic market and overseas market, including low-end and high-end markets," said He Guohua, Brilliance's group vice president.

"The North American international auto show is an excellent platform for measuring against international standards."

Chinese automakers have had a difficult time with their efforts to break into the North American auto market, where customers have notable concerns about vehicle safety, reliability, and emissions. Though the vehicles appear at first glance to be similar to other imported models, closer inspections can reveal manufacturing flaws that might cripple a vehicle manufactured in North America. BYD's F3DM model at the show preview, for example, had a long, exposed weld seam that ran beneath the doors on both sides of the vehicle.

Crash testing has also exposed some significant differences between Chinese vehicles and those sold in the United States. In an independent crash test of a Chinese-made SUV conducted last year by a German firm, a standard 35 mph impact collapsed the engine compartment and crushed both the driver and front-seat passenger.

Contact Larry P. Vellequette at:
lvellequette@theblade.com
or 419-724-6091.

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