A double-decker electric bus on display at BYD's factory in Lancaster, California, on Oct. 6, 2017.

Carmaker has built up capacity to make 5 million masks a day BYD, the electric vehicle maker backed by Warren Buffett… When Berkshire Hathaway () CEO Warren Buffett took a 10% interest in Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD in 2008, he probably didn't envision how the company would be making money today.
The quick switch from one product to another underscores China’s strength as a manufacturing powerhouse and highlights the urgency with which companies are trying to stop the deadly virus from paralyzing operations. Shenzhen-based BYD, which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, said it would supply EV components including batteries and power management devices. The world's biggest seller of cars, Toyota Motor Corporation, is to set up a joint venture with China's BYD Company — a company quarter-owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Not bad, based on a bet Warren Buffett made a decade ago. Chinese electric car maker BYD Co. plans to fund global expansion through an IPO BYD Co., the Chinese electric-carmaker backed by Warren Buffett, said it is now the world’s biggest face-mask maker after starting production less than a … Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. BYD had all the advantages of an electric-car pioneer in the world’s largest auto market. The investment is estimated to have netted Berkshire Hathaway more than a billion dollars over the last decade.Toyota is a Japanese automotive manufacturer that, as of 2017 data, makes and sells more motor vehicles around the world than any other automaker.

The world's biggest seller of cars, Toyota Motor Corporation, is to set up a joint venture with China's BYD Company — a company quarter-owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.No details about the total value of the venture were released.In the statement, Toyota executive vice president, Shigeki Terashi, said the company had "the same goal to further promote the widespread use of electrified vehicles. We want to hear from you.Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inboxGet this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Investors are hot for China's answer to Tesla. "BYD is a Chinese manufacturer that was formed in 1995 as a seller of batteries. The company can make 5 million masks a day and is further expanding capacity, it said Friday in a statement. On Sept. 27, 2008, MidAmerican Energy, controlled by Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, announced it was putting $230 million (paywall) into China’s BYD, paying about HK$8 a … Forbes via Alan Ohnsman. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.A Toyota car assembly manufacturing line at Tianjin FAW Toyota Factory in Tianjin, China.Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., pauses as he attends a BYD news conference in Changsha, Hunan province, China, on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010.Sustainable investment funds just surpassed $1 trillion for the first time on recordIn Colombia, 'climate-smart' villages show how the future of farming could lookGeothermal project in England secures funding to help pilot lithium-extraction technology BYD didn’t specify what type of masks it makes.Demand for masks and hand sanitizer skyrocketed as the virus broke out, creating shortages and prompting industrial companies It wasn’t immediately clear how BYD’s production numbers compare with others in the industry. For example, Wang, who founded BYD as a mobile-phone battery maker in 1995, has built up a diversified business that spans from electric vehicles, EV batteries, monorail development, and semiconductors to now protective supplies such as face masks and disinfectants.Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., petroleum giant Sinopec and iPhone assembler Foxconn are among those now producing masks.