BYD plays pivotal role in Brazil's transport future

BYD Auto Co Ltd, the Shenzhen-based electric vehicle and solar panel manufacturer, expects to open its first factory in Brazil later this year, allowing it to play a key role in the modernization of the giant Latin American country's urban transport network.

Adalberto Maluf Filho, the company's director of marketing and governmental affairs in Brazil, said that BYD expects to supply many non-polluting buses and taxis to large cities such as Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city in Brazil, and Sao Paulo, the most populous.

As most of Brazil's larger cities do not have major subway networks - Sao Paulo has only four lines, for instance, while Rio has just two - its public transportation network is in urgent need of update.