Buffett Puts Money Into Electric Car Market With Investment in China's BYD
By John O'Dell September 29, 2008
Investor Warren Buffett's been wrong before, but it's a rare occurrence.
That's important to note as we watch the Midwestern moneyman with Midas' touch plunk down a few hundred million for a state in China's battery-maker turned car company BYD.
Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings says it will pay $230 million for a 10 percent interest in BYD (it stands for Build Your Dreams), reportedly to help push the Chinese company's environmentally friendly automotive technologies.
A lot of venture capital firms have jumped onto the green-tech bandwagon in recent years, but the entry of this unit of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway gives electric cars in general and BYD in particular a new cachet.
BYD is developing electric cars slated for sale in China (later this year), Europe and Israel (in 2010) and, ultimately, North America.
Buffett's bucks will help finance those dreams and, we hope, show the world that EVs are here to stay as an important part of the alternative transportation mix.
For an in-depth look at BYD, click here for today's piece by Edmunds Auto Observer's Michelle Krebs.
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