The world’s leading nickel-cadmium battery makers, BYD, gave a clear message to the auto industry — fail to take this Chinese automaker seriously at your peril.

One year ago we were in stitches over a Chinese concept car with a bamboo interior. This year we were presented with Chinese manufactured hybrid vehicles promising a driving range that outstripped GM’s hybrids launched just hours before.

It was not only the quality of the cars and the development of technology, but the general professionalism of the presentation and media kits that spoke volumes. These people learn fast.

Ready to Take Charge

BYD has built itself up from a company with 20 employees in 1995 to control 65 percent of nickel-cadmium battery sales globally today with a workforce exceeding 100,000.

It has a 35 percent share of the global cell-phone battery market and claims its information technology products are used by 17 percent of the world’s population in their daily lives.

And it is batteries that lie at the heart of its automotive expansion plans. In 2003 BYD acquired Tsinchuan Automobile Company and sold more than 100,000 units of its F3 model in 18 months.

It has sufficient production capacity to produce more than 300,000 units a year and has a range of vehicles with gasoline engines ranging from 800cc to 2.4-liters to hybrid and electric-powered autos. BYD says it aims to be the largest automaker in China by 2015.

It is betting on its Dual Mode hybrid and pure electric vehicles to provide an entrance into international markets. The pure electric vehicle has household plug-in capability while the hybrid vehicle can freely switch between pure electric and hybrid power modes.

In July 2006, BYD launched its F3e equipped with a Fe battery giving a range of 180 miles. The battery is claimed to be safe, environmentally friendly with a life cycle of 2,000 charges or 300,000 miles.

Watch Out General Motors?

BYD unveiled a new car, the F6 DM (dual mode) hybrid in Detroit. They claim the car has a range of 190 miles from its pure electric and hybrid electric system. The battery can take a 50 percent charge in 10 minutes and a full charge takes 9 hours. Its battery alone gives it a range of 60 miles at highway speeds.

Compare this with GM’s Vue Green Line Plug-in Hybrid launch earlier in the day with its 10-mile battery range and you start to appreciate the significance of the F6 DM.

BYD claims it can convert any of its cars to hybrid power for just $6,000. Apart from this, while BYD’s cars on display were not exciting from a design point of view, they had a build quality that would not be out of place on North American roads. Our bet is that this company will become a major player in the global auto industry faster than anyone expects.