BYD pins hopes on an SUV hybrid revolution

Chinese carmaker BYD announced its "5-4-2" plan for its series of hybrid sport utility vehicles at a gala last week in Shenzhen, its home in Guangdong province.

The plan's name comes from the performance figures of the cars, which are named after ancient Chinese dynasties. They accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour in 5 seconds, boast four-wheel drive systems and have fuel consumption of 2 liters per 100 km.

BYD's chairman and president Wang Chuanfu said on Jan 20 that he was confident of the new products competing in China's SUV market, which saw the overall sales volume surge 35 percent last year, five times that of the sedan segment.