Seven BYD factories to be confiscated after land ministry fine

A little less than a month ago, Warren Buffett was pretty vocal about his company, Berkshire Hathaway’s, investment in Chinese automaker BYD Co. Sadly, BYD was recently fined and ordered to surrender seven factories due to a dispute over land use in central China. The Chinese automaker received a fine of 2.95 million yuan ($442,000 USD) and will have its factories in Xi’an, Shaanxi confiscated.

The move adds another obstacle to the Shenzhen-based automaker that also includes declining domestic sales and scaled-back plans to sell electric cars in California.

BYD, the fastest growing major automaker in China last year, separately said that auto sales in September fell 25 percent.

Paul Lin, a spokesman for BYD, said that BYD will follow the ministry’s decision and that it won’t have any impact on the carmaker’s operations.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)