By LI Hongmei

Wang Chuanfu, CEO of Shenzhen-based BYD Auto, said last month that "it has developed an E-9 sports car that could compete with (its rival) Tesla Motors."

In contrast to other auto companies which join forces with Google or IBM for the development of intelligent cars, Wang hopes to follow its past horizontal integration mode for building intelligent cars.

"This is because all parts and plates have to work closely, and if they are done by different companies, the integration may not be so good," Wang said.

Reports said Wang's horizontal integration have previously been criticized, although he has eased restrictions in recent years and begun to purchase from other international companies.

Wang set a tangible goal for the foreseeable future, predicting that "90% of vehicles will be equipped with dual-mode and dual-engines" because they are more powerful and fuel-efficient.

If this trend continues, said Lian Yubo, chief engineer at BYD Auto, the current plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will be only transitional.

"When the consumers get used to hybrid electric vehicles, we can remove the transmission box and enter into a time of purely electric cars," Lian said, believing the time will come soon.

Wang had not thought that the path to creating intelligent vehicles would be that difficult.

Silicon Valley, as the intelligence center of the world, is not attractive to Wang.

He said that as BYD is also a contract manufacturer of brand cell phone products, it has an edge in the integration of cell phones and vehicles.

But reports have also pointed out that BYD is a contract manufacturer and lacks core technology in intelligence.

This is why Wang values his research and development team - consisting of 15,000 engineers.

"The strength of BYD lies not in how many fixed assets or factories it has, but in these engineers," Wang said.