BYD

A collaboration between Daimler and Chinese car maker BYD has yielded its first fruit, the China-only Denza electric vehicle. The Denza, which looks like a mashup between a stretched B-Class hatch and a Tatra T700, is built in a factory in Shenzhen, China, right on the border with Hong Kong.

China's BYD (Build Your Dreams) Automotive has reported a net profit increase to 3.79 billion yuan (AUD$608 million) for 2009, more than tripling its 2008 figure of 1.02 billion yuan (AUD$164 million). Domestic sales have skyrocketed for BYD vehicles delivering 450,000 units last year alone. Of those, some 290,000 were BYD's popular F3 (a Corolla-sized sedan).