Chinese electric car company BYD will locate North American headquarters in Los Angeles

China carmaker puts N. American headquarters in LA

LOS ANGELES — A rapidly expanding manufacturer of all-electric cars, solar panels and other green products from China announced Friday it will open a North American headquarters in Los Angeles, with plans to begin selling autos in the U.S. by the end of the year.

City officials said the arrival of BYD Inc. of Shenzhen, China, will initially create about 150 high-paying jobs as the company hires managers, designers and engineers to staff the new downtown headquarters. As it begins to market cars in the United States, officials expect several hundred more jobs to be created in related industries involving service and sales.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hailed the move as a coup for California and proof that the state’s promotion of green energy programs is paying off by attracting high-tech, clean-energy companies that will help consumers reduce both pollution and their reliance on foreign oil.

“As I’ve always said, what is good for the environment is also good for the economy,” Schwarzenegger said at a news conference at City Hall in which he and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa welcomed BYD officials, including the company’s chairman and founder, Wang Chaun-fu.

Since starting BYD in 1995, Wang has built it into the world’s largest producer of rechargeable batteries for cell phones and laptop computers. The company, which employs 150,000 people, also produces solar panels, lighting systems and is working to develop a technology to store solar energy.

According to BYD’s website, U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett bought a 10 percent stake in the company in 2008.

Wang said BYD stands for Build Your Dream.

“Our dream is a green dream,” he told the news conference.

The company moved into the car business in 2003 and began selling the world’s first mass-produced plug-in hybrid, the F3DM, in 2008.

It introduced a U.S. audience to its latest model, the all-electric e6 at Detroit’s annual auto show earlier this year. The crossover sedan-wagon model is what BYD plans to begin selling in the United States by year’s end.