BYD's Rising Electric-Car Sales Swamped By Falling Gas Models

Chinese automaker BYD was the first car company in the world to put a plug-in hybrid passenger car into production, a couple of years before the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car hit the road.

Despite several hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric product lines, however, the vast majority of BYD's sales volume comes from selling gasoline vehicles in China.

And the company is losing ground in its home market, as are most native Chinese automakers not selling globally recognized brands.

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First-half sales of BYD's gasoline cars plummeted 27 percent to 180,000--a decline far greater than rising sales of its plug-in cars, which totaled 7,600--according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

For the full year, BYD expects to sell 20,000 plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles, primarily its Qin and e6 models respectively.