- BYD, China's largest carmaker of electrically powered vehicles, announced it would build an assembly plant for electric vehicles in Lancaster (California), in the United States. Work will begin on May 1, 2013.

- The future plant will produce electric buses for public transport companies in North America and South America. The carmaker stated that the vehicles produced in Lancaster will respect the specific emission standards of California.

- BYD intends to assemble in this plant fifty electric buses in 2013 and a hundred a year from 2014. Approved to be driven on U.S. roads since March, the BYD K9 electric bus has been tested by Hertz (car rental company) to transport passengers between the airport and its own rental sites. The first specimens of this particular electric bus should be supplied to the airport of Los Angeles, Stanford University and at the headquarters of the Apple computer company.

- The announcement was given just weeks after the creation of a joint venture in Europe for the establishment of a similar assembly plant in Bulgaria. To date, BYD has sold more than 300 electric buses worldwide and has received in 2013 orders for more than 1,300 buses making it the largest manufacturer of electric buses in the world.

- Slovakia became in 2012 the largest car producer in the world relative to its population(171 vehicles produced per 1000 inhabitants), arriving well before the Czech Republic and South Korea. Slovak automotive industry (assembly and equipment) employs around 75,000 people.

- Slovakia has increased its position to 7th position in Europe in terms of production (behind the Czech Republic), while the country is in 19th place in Europe in terms of population.

- Three carmakers operate now in Slovakia: the Volkswagen group (Bratislava) which manufactures Volkswagen (Up, Touareg), Audi (Q7), Seat (Mii) and Skoda (Citigo) vehicles, the Hyundai-Kia  group (Zilina) which manufactures Kia (Cee'd, Sportage, Venga) vehicles, the PSA group (Trnava) which manufactures Peugeot (208) and Citroën (C3 Picasso) vehicles.

- The annual current installed capacity is 400 000 vehicles for the Volkswagen group, 300 000 vehicles for the Hyundai-Kia group and 300,000 vehicles for the PSA group, i.e. altogether one million vehicles per year. The BMW Group is also planning to move to Slovakia and Hungary over the next few years.

- Vehicles produced in Slovakia are mainly destined for the European Union, but other markets are growing in importance, such as North America or Russia.

- Despite a series of recommendations from the Chinese government urging motorists and manufacturers to turn to low-emission vehicles, only 7,748 hybrid and electric vehicles were sold in China in the first quarter of 2013, of which 4033 hybrid "classic" , 2874 301 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

- Such a low level of sales is achieved even though  buyers of plug-in electric and electric vehicles are eligible for a bonus of 60,000 Yuan (7,420 euros) and 50,000 Yuan (6,180 euros), respectively. In contrast, Chinese motorists acquiring a "classic" hybrid model receive a premium of only 3,000 Yuan (370 euros).

- In comparison, Japan has purchased 154,234 hybrid and electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2013. Europe bought on its side15,000 such vehicles in the same period and the USA 150,000 vehicles.

- Despite the high premium level offered, hybrid and electric vehicles are on low demand in China. An immature market (equipment market and not renewal) market,  a non adequate product offer, and prices too high (in comparison with combustion engine  vehicles) may explain the poor sales of such vehicles in China.

- The environmental plan of the Chinese government, however, could help boost sales in the coming years.