BYD

In an automotive industry dominated by legacy brands and familiar faces, it’s hard not to be captivated by the meteoric rise of Tesla and the oddball antics of its billionaire founder, Elon Musk. The electric car maker grabs headlines for everything from its highly secretive sales figures, to its skyrocketing stock prices, to Musk’s unfiltered Twitter declarations. RELATED: 10 electric utes on the horizon

The Denza EV concept has made its world premiere at the 2012 Beijing motor show, previewing the first production car developed under the joint venture between German powerhouse Daimler and domestic manufacturer BYD. The Denza EV is the product of around two years of development and more than 200 engineers and experts from the Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology (BDNT) collaboration, which was created in 2010.

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).