BYD, Tesla Battle for Share in Guangzhou's Electric Car Market

Electric car and battery maker BYD and Tesla Motors have stepped up efforts to seize market share in Guangzhou's electric vehicle market, according to Yicai.com.

BYD partnered with Guangzhou Automobile Group to set up a joint venture, investing nearly 3 billion yuan ($470 million), the report said.

As the venture is expected to produce 5,000 electric buses, the Guangzhou government has already commissioned the two companies to create 400 electric buses this year.

Meanwhile, on Oct. 17, Tesla opened its first dealership in Guangzhou, in addition to dozens of dealerships and service centers it has opened in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi'an and Hong Kong. The U.S. carmaker has also increased the number of its charging stations across the country since last year.

Zhu Xiaodan, Tesla's manager for China, considers Guangzhou as a highly prized market in southern China and said that he has flown to the city a dozen times to oversee the construction and operation of the dealership and the company's charging stations.

The U.S. company has built three charging stations in the city and more stations are under construction in the adjacent cities of Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan and Shaoguan, the report said.

Although the local government has upgraded 85 percent of its public transportation services over the past few years, Guangzhou has yet to fully adopt electric buses.

According to the report, most buses in the city are now powered by electricity and LNG.

Last year, Guangzhou officials announced that around 10,000 LNG-powered buses in the city will be replaced by electric buses in the coming years.

China's electric vehicle market has seen a strong growth this year. Around 144,300 electric cars were produced between January and September, twice the number for the same period last year. During the nine months, around 136,700 of the cars were sold, a 2.3-fold increase year on year.