BYD’s promise

By Paige St John.

A 2009 present­a­tion by then-May­or Ant­o­nio Vil­larai­gosa’s staff shows city of­fi­cials seek­ing to con­vince BYD to loc­ate in Los Angeles be­lieved the com­pany would open an auto­mot­ive man­u­fac­tur­ing fa­cil­ity. War­ren Buf­fett’s in­vest­ment in the com­pany was among the selling points, as was the city’s buy­ing power.

Sources: Los Angeles city archives