Wikileaks: US Worries Chinese Automaker

Build Your Dreams (BYD), one of the largest independent car manufacturers in China, was quoted in documents leaked to Wikileaks, the controversial site where confidential texts of various nations are being revealed. The material is a message exchange between the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou and Washington expressing concern with the acquisition of shares of Asian brand by the investor Warren Buffet in 2008.

The document points out that BYD may face legal problems in the United States on account of the merits of their products. The Chinese brand plans to enter the U.S. market soon, but the fame of its current products is not the best. Toyota and Honda accuse Chinese brand of plagiarism. The most famous is the F3 sedan, an exact double of the previous-generation Corolla. In some branded stores in China, there are reports of customers who leave the original logo of the model by a Japanese brand.

Warren Buffett, who bought 10% stake in BYD for US$232 million at the height of the global economic crisis, said at the time of purchase that he was interested mainly in battery technology company in China. Honda, in turn, accuses the brand to double some of their projects in class. After more than three years of purchase, the roles of the American entrepreneur is already valued at over US$1 billion.

Warren Buffett is currently the largest investor in the world. His fortune is estimated at US$50 billion, making him the third richest person in the world, behind only Bill Gates, who has US$56 billion, and Mexico’s Carlos Slim Helu, who owns an account with US$76 billion. The range of investments Buffet, which covers the whole world, including from companies in the food industry and the textile factories of freight trains and passenger trains.