Fakhro Motors is making preparations for the official launch in Bahrain of models made by BYD, China's leading car manufacturer.

With the first batch of vehicles having already arrived, the cars are expected to be on sale in the kingdom in a matter of days. The newly-appointed dealers say they are now fully focused on making BYD a leading automotive brand on the island.

BYD is a diversified Chinese industrial company that has emerged as a heavy weight of modern China engaged in the manufacturing of cars, car components, batteries, renewable energy and IT components.

The flagship of the group is BYD Auto based out of Shenzhen where it has formed a series of massive manufacturing facilities to produce a variety of models.

The company recently hit the headlines by suggesting the future for green cars was 'solar energy' ... as a result the sun-soaked Middle East could become a key market for any technological breakthrough.

Meanwhile, BYD will exceed its target of doubling its conventional car sales this year to 400,000 units, a spokesman said.

'In the future, solar energy may become one of the driving forces of BYD's electric vehicles,' a company executive revealed last week. Apart from the IT and auto businesses, the new energy will be the third market that BYD is planning to enter.

Bahrain-based Fakhro Motors, a division of Abdulla Yousif Fakhro & Sons (AYFS), recently signed an agreement with China's largest car manufacturer, at a ceremony hosted at the BYD head office.

Mohammed Adel Fakhro, AYFS director, said: 'We are very pleased to have been appointed as the authorised distributors for BYD Auto in Bahrain.

'BYD is the fastest growing car company in the world and Fakhro Motors has established good will in the Bahraini car market in a very short span with the brilliant performance of our car sales and workshop division. So, when these two brands come together to provide state-of-the-art and affordable cars to our customers with good service, we expect that this will be a winning formula for everyone involved.'

Fakhro Motors was established in 2007 as a workshop in Khamis to repair a Budget Car Rental fleet of 2,000 cars. For more information www.fakhro.com/motors.asp