At that time, the company had big plans to become China's largest producer of plug-in electric

While the Chinese market for plug-ins has developed more slowly than expected, BYD has persevered with a new range of plug-in hybrids.
It has been selling its compact Qin plug-in hybrid


The BYD Tang retails for about 300,000 yuan (roughly $48,000 at today's exchange rate).

A further SUV, the Ming, will follow at a later date, according to a presentation given by the company last week.
BYD was the first company in the world to launch a production plug-in hybrid; its F3DM in 2008 was two years ahead of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.